Eighty per cent of UK consumers believe that there are security gaps in the methods used by businesses to confirm a user's identity over the phone.

Just 21 per cent of respondents to a recent survey said they had no concern about the possibility of access fraud with regards to their telecommunications accounts. Among bank users, just nine per cent expressed complete faith in verification methods.

Of the 500 users questioned by researchers Harris Interactive for supplier Nuance Communications, 55 per cent said that would prefer to use organisations that employ voice-recognition technology as part of their identity-checking systems.

The survey claimed just under half of the respondents (47 per cent) regarded voice technology as being more secure than PIN-based schemes.

“According to Cabinet Offices figures, approximately 80,000 cases of identity and impersonation fraud were identified in the UK in 2006, costing the economy £1.5bn said Ian Turner, general manager for Northern EMEA at Nuance.

Harris Interactive spoke to 500 consumers who have dealt with customer services over the past 12 months.