A new British report warns that 2007 fraud levels could rise, partly because of unnecessary risk-taking by consumers.

The study by Morgan Stanley Consumer Banking found that students and other young people are the biggest risk takers, with 59 per cent of the under-thirties still throwing away bank and card statements without shredding them, compared to a 40 per cent overall average.

Similarly, the under thirties were most culpable when it came to reusing passwords for PIN services, bank accounts and other financial services. While 27 per cent of those surveyed admitted to the fault, the figure rose to 31 per cent among the younger generations.

"The findings fuel concerns that consumers are not taking heed of warnings to protect themselves. There has been a lot of attention placed on the issue of ID theft but, worryingly, many people still don't believe it could happen to them," said Patrick Muir, marketing director at Morgan Stanley Credit Card.

Last week credit checking firm Experian revealed that students were among the groups most at risk of ID theft because of their propensity to live in shared, frequently changing accommodations.

The report listed these five ID theft "sins:"

• Not shredding bank or credit card statements before discarding them. (40% of respondents admit to this, with 59% of the under 30s claiming to do this.)

• Using the same passwords or PIN numbers for both bank AND credit card accounts. (27% of us do this with 31% of the under 30s.)

• Writing down or storing PINs or passwords on PCs or the like.(12% do this.)

• Disclosing and sharing personal data in a public location (11%)

• Sending personal banking data via unencrypted e-mail (5%). A secure site will always display https: on the browser's address line.

Muir said that Morgan Stanley's fraud department deals with a number of cases each year and since cardholders can often not be aware of unauthorized transactions for several months, the entire process can become quite drawn out.