Cases of fraud against new homeowners rose by 35 per cent in the first half of the year, according to data company Experian.

These households may have mailboxes, which fraudsters can easily access, or their information has been compromised in a data breach. This group saw a 91 per cent rise in card fraud over the period, Experian said.

Overall, people aged 25-24 are 78 per cent more likely to be the target of fraud, based on population size.

The main reason is that many people of this age live in flats with communal mail areas so criminals can easily intercept cards needed to commit fraud without being detected.

Across all age groups, financial fraud has risen by 14 per cent this year, according to the figures.

Nick Mothershaw, director of identity and fraud solutions at Experian UK&I, said: “Fraud carries a huge emotional cost for its victims, while genuine customers can become frustrated with the added expense and inconvenience to their customer journey.

“Our statistics show that while we are uncovering a new incident every 15 seconds, fraudsters continue to find new ways of separating people and organisations from their money. It is critical people think about where their post is stored and are aware of how data breaches can affect them.