Britons spend nearly twice as much on credit cards each month than they think they do, according to figures published recently, and this financial apathy could make life easy for fraudsters.
British adults believed they spent an average 418 pounds per person per month on credit or store cards. However, a survey of 2,000 people conducted by online bank Egg showed they spent nearly twice as much each month - 775 pounds on average.
Egg said this reflected a far larger problem - that people did not know how much money in their bank account was theirs to spend and how much had already been committed to paying bills.
"Most people don't know how many direct debits and standing orders they have going out of their account or how often they use their card," said Egg spokesman Mark Maguire.
"Credit card spending is part of the same problem, a general lack of awareness that means there's a huge difference between what we think we spend and what we do spend."
In 2004 people were charged 1.3 billion pounds in unauthorised and excess overdraft fees, many of which would have been avoidable had they budgeted better and been aware of their outgoings, said Maguire.
Credit reference agency Experian said there was a high level of financial apathy in Britain.
Experian consumer affairs spokesman James Jones said 90 percent of credit records in the UK were completely up to date, but within that there would be many people who paid only the minimum balance required each month.
"That is one of the reasons why we've introduced the consumer indebtedness index, to spot those who are up to date with their payments but who are on the brink of getting into difficulties," Jones said. Experian's consumer indebtedness index helps lenders identify those who are struggling to manage their payments.
Experian said lack of awareness not only led to unnecessary bank and credit card charges being imposed but could also make life too easy for fraudsters.
"We've looked at this issue several times, most recently in the last six months, and have found some alarming stats. One in seven people we spoke to could not estimate their current account balance to within 500 pounds. Financial apathy like that makes it really easy for identity crooks," Jones said.
There were 120,000 cases of false identity and impersonation fraud in 2004, up 600 percent in five years, according to fraud prevention services CIFAS, which is funded by the financial services industry.
However, Jones said the number of people who were prepared to take an active interest in their finances was increasing. The number of people in Britain who have applied for a copy of their credit report has more than doubled each year for nearly 10 years, he said. Last year, Experian issued more than one million reports, with Britain's second biggest credit agency Equifax issuing a similar number.