This results in cases such as that of Tse, who found himself wrongly accused of crimes which had been committed by an imposter carrying his ID card.

As a victim of hijacked identity, he blames the police for his years of misery and confusion - and with good reason, according to the Immigration Department. "Police only need to call up the station which will check the computer record, which shows up lost cards immediately, but they don't always do so," a spokesman says.

However, this is cold comfort to Tse, whose ordeal began in 1991 when he lost his wallet containing his identity card while shopping in Causeway Bay. He reported it to the police and Immigration Department and was later issued with a replacement card.

He forgot the whole incident until October 18, 1997 - six years after the ID card had gone missing. Two policemen arrived at his wine shop in Causeway Bay with an unusual request - they wanted him to attend an identification parade in a robbery line-up. They suspected him of robbing a woman inside a lift and making off with her gold Rolex watch. Why? Because a stolen watch was pawned by a man using an identity card bearing his particulars, but not, it transpired, his picture.

Shocked and scared, Tse, 36, pleaded with the policemen that they had got the wrong man, but to no avail. He was taken away.

There was more to come. A year later in 1998, he received a bill for surgery he never had. On October 2, 1998, a man had presented an identity card showing his particulars, but again not his picture, at Queen Elizabeth Hospital before having a hand operation. The hospital then demanded repeatedly that Tse settle the $68 bill for a one-night stay.

The antics of his ghostly alter ego continued. In June, Tse was fined $800 after being convicted of jaywalking in Tuen Mun - a place he has never been.

"I couldn't understand why the magistrate could convict me when I was not the man," Tse says angrily.

Finally the penny dropped and Tse realised these incidents were not random quirks of fate - his identity card had been stolen and used by an imposter when committing these crimes. "I don't know how many fake Chau-sangs are out there using identity cards with my particulars," he says.

Tse was a victim of identity theft, often called "data rape".

It's clear many of the 126,000 ID cards reported missing between January to November last year end up in criminal hands.

Identity theft is a growing problem around the world and in the US, is the fastest-growing crime, with more than 500,000 American victims each year.

Former president Bill Clinton signed a bill in 1998, making it a federal crime to steal someone's identity, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison. Hong Kong still has no such law. Possessing another person's ID card may only amount to "theft" or "obtaining property by deception".

Last year, police detected 445 cases of "using ID card relating to another person", up from 344 in 1999. In most cases, police say identity cards are used to apply for credit cards or mobile phones. Others are sold to illegal immigrants, to commit crimes or to find a job.

There are numerous examples - last year, an overstaying mainland mother used fake ID and worked in a restaurant until a bank teller questioned her identity. In another case, a businessman used identity cards found in the streets to open bank accounts and then cashed stolen cheques. Often the card's owner has no idea their identity has been hijacked until an application for a credit card or mortgage is refused, or worse, the debt collection agencies call.

In June, a property consultant, who lost his identity card two years previously, had to work around the clock to negotiate a settlement with debt collectors for at least seven banks over bills totalling more than $100,000. These had been incurred in his name by an illegal immigrant from China.

Tse only discovered what had happened when police arrested a construction site worker in Wong Tai Sin and found a fake ID card with his particulars. His problem was compounded when it transpired there was more than one fake Tse.

Distressing though the whole experience has been, Tse has found little consolation from officials and government departments responsible for issuing the cards. After explaining his plight in the magistrate's court when answering jaywalking charges, Tse protested his innocence but was not believed.