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Ken and Sandra Perritt from Newport never thought they'd be victims of fraud. The former policeman and bank clerk are living the good life, spending as much time as possible on caravan holidays. This winter they enjoyed two months in Spain. But little did Ken and Sandra realise, while they were making the most of the Spanish sunshine, someone else was making the most of their mailbox.

When the couple checked their credit card transactions online, Sandra realised they had been the victims of crime. Ken told X-Ray's Rachel Treadaway-Williams, "There was an item on there on 15th March which came up post office fees - Β£24.10 - neither of us had a clue what that meant."

While they were still in Spain, the Perritts decided to contact their card provider, who confirmed there had been fraudulent activity on their account. Their money was refunded and their card was stopped. Ken and Sandra thought no more about the unusual transaction - the bank had cleared up the issue and they enjoyed the rest of their holiday. But when they returned home there was a nasty shock in store for them.

Ken said, "One of the letters that was waiting for us at home was from the redirection department of the Post Office, addressed to the householder. It said 'further to your request mail for the above named has been redirected, but the address wasn't contained in the letter and this mail would be redirected for a month from the 19th March to 19th April'."

Someone had used the Royal Mail's redirection service - which is designed to prevent fraud - and had arranged for the family's post to be sent to an unknown address. Mail the Perritts knew they were expecting hadn't arrived. They contacted Royal Mail to cancel the redirection and reported the crime to the police to investigate, but Ken was frustrated at how long it took for Royal Mail to tell him and the police where his mail had been sent to.

When their mail deliveries started again, Ken was shocked to find the fraudsters had applied for credit in his name. Ken and Sandra have spent hours on the phone contacting companies to let them know about the fraudulent applications.

Unfortunately, Ken is far from alone in his experience. Research shows that criminals are increasingly using mail redirection to commit crime. This is known as "current address fraud" and accounted for more than half of all identity frauds recorded last year.

And it's not just a temporary inconvenience. The effects of ID theft can last for months, if not years, as Sharon and Kevin Hamer from Merthyr Tydfil know all too well.

Last year, while the couple were building their dream home, they moved in with Sharon's mother-in-law and set up a mail redirection from their old address. But when the mail dried up, Kevin found out from their local postie what the problem was.

Sharon told Rachel, "The postman asked why our mail was going to a flat in Nottingham."

Sharon cancelled the redirection, but by then the damage had already been done. According to Sharon, "Whoever was responsible for this had been applying for all kinds of finance, loans, credit cards, and it's not the amount, it's the sheer volume which causes the damage."

Sharon and Kevin are now trying to prove that they're not responsible for these debts. Their credit rating is in tatters which means they can't borrow money to finish their dream home. They've now made the heartbreaking decision to put the house up for sale. Sharon told X-Ray "It's been an absolute nightmare, it's been disastrous. You'd have bills coming through you'll have phone calls, people chasing you for payments and none of them belong to you. I've got to say it's been the worst time of our lives. "

Royal Mail admits the redirection service is a big earner for them, raising tens of millions of pounds every year. They say they're concerned about the distress that has been caused to the Perritts and the Hamers, and a letter is always sent to the old address as a security measure - although Sharon says she didn't get one at all. Royal Mail say they use a number of security checks when people apply for a redirection, and they ensure credit or debit cards used to pay are registered in the name of the person requesting the redirection, and haven't been reported lost or stolen.

We asked credit reference agency Experian for some tips on how to safeguard against current address fraud. Spokesperson James Jones told X-Ray:

Identity fraud is aΜύbig and growing problem. Last year Experian saw a 20% rise in the number of victims contacting us for help to sort out their damaged credit records. Around a third of those were cases of current address fraud, often involving redirecting people's post and intercepting people's post and it can be very difficult to spot.

Are there any hotspots?
Yes, we've created a map of how vulnerable people are across the UK depending on where they live. The area around Cardiff Bay features in the top 10 most at risk areas in the whole of the UK. There are a lot of people there who live in shared, rented accommodation with shared hallways and mailboxes so there are more opportunities for fraudsters to strike.Is there any way that people can protect themselves?