Company owners and directors are increasingly being targeted by identity fraudsters, according to credit agency Experian.

The company's research found a 66% rise in the number of identity fraud cases it received in 2007 compared to 2006, with figures up from 3,500 to more than 6,000.

The findings also suggest that directors of companies with more than 50 employees are over fives times more likely to be a victim of identity fraud than the average UK resident. Directors of small companies are two-and-a-half times more likely.

"Fraudsters have a clear motive to pursue company directors," said Helen Lord, director of fraud and compliance at Experian.

"The financial rewards and lifestyle that success in business brings, plus their profile and the requirement for personal information to be logged in the public domain, means that directors are prime targets for the professional identity fraudster."

The most common type of fraud is now forwarding address fraud, Experian found, where criminals redirect a victim's post to a drop address which he or she then visits to collect mail. This accounts for 36% of all identity fraud.

The previous most common method was present address fraud, which declined to 30% of cases.

In general, the research found that the typical identity fraud victim will be aged between 26 and 45, among the highest income earners, working in a professional occupation and will also own their own home. Those earning more than £50,000 a year are almost three times more likely than average to fall foul of identity fraud.

Those living in London were also twice as likely to be targeted. Kensington was named as the capital's identity fraud hotspot, with its residents three-and-a-half times more likely to fall victim compared to the UK average.

Residents of Richmond-upon-Thames, Putney, Wimbledon and the Kings Road area in Chelsea were also among those at highest risk of identity fraud.