The typical person has 26 online log-ins – with the associated passwords and other ID – so it is no wonder that most of us use the same passwords for more than one service.

But this can be dangerous.

Kristy Jasper, 28, had almost £4,000 stolen from her business account by fraudsters 18 months ago and police told her the likely cause was her use of identical passwords for numerous online accounts. These included PayPal, Amazon, LinkedIn, Facebook and a website used to buy office supplies.

Upon checking her accounts she noticed nine online payments totalling £3,800 had been made to high street retailers such as Argos and Currys.

The crime was reported to the police and Metro Bank, the account provider, straight away.