According to research from digital identity firm Garlik, 21 per cent of people have lied about their name, 23 per cent have lied about their age and 19 per cent have given misleading descriptions of themselves.

But it is those who are looking for love that are being deceived the most - 74 per cent of online daters have been tricked by potential suitors.

Tom Ilube, chief executive of Garlik said: "The online world is changing our national culture as millions of Brits systematically deceive one another online and, in the process, push the boundaries of what society considers acceptable behaviour."

According to Ilube, this could lead to people abandoning sites like Facebook and MySpace.

"This emerging trend of digital deception also presents one of the biggest challenges to the next stage of the web which, if left unchecked, could seriously impact the ways we use the internet and see many of us walking away from social networking sites altogether," he continued.

www.garlik.com

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