Identity theft- the "hi-tech" crime of our times. But is it actually remotely hard to do? Perhaps not. Take the following as an example of how ridiculously easy it can be.

Every home dweller is familiar with receiving a pile of bad-for-the-environment credit card applications you never asked for or wanted. You get a glossy leaflet about how much money it won't cost you, a prepaid envelope, a half-filled in form and, if you are especially lucky, a free pen. Sometimes it even says "Priority Application" or something equally as discrete on the envelope.

Rob from Cockeyed.com decided to do a test, albeit in America. Upon receiving yet another such application, following advice on the a bank's website that most people will never read, he tore it up into little pieces for security's sake. Just like an especially dedicated ID-thiever he then sellotaped it back together as well as he could, which naturally was far from perfect. Just to make it that little bit dodgier he put a change of address on it, and changed the telephone contact number to a mobile.

We're sure readers can guess the rest. He sent it to the bank. A few weeks later, despite the unconfirmed change of details and the obvious torn-up-nature of the application the card arrived at the address he chose. He successfully activated the card via his mobile phone, and went off to spend spend spend. Viewers beware: even tearing it seems the only safe way of dealing with these continuous unsolicited offers is to finely shred, burn or eat them. Banks - get a grip. At least make the ID thieves have to look for a non-torn up form before giving them several thousand pounds of someone else's money. The Poorhouse thinks that banks should indeed be 100% liable for fraud of this sort and its consequences given that the offers are usually unsolicited.

Read Rob's lavishly illustrated story here.

If you're heading over there anyway, do not miss his "How much is inside" series where you can find out such fascinatingly hard facts such as that a bottle of mustard contains enough yellowy sauce for 80 hot dogs.