A study conducted last month has revealed that the number of victims of debit and credit fraud increased by five percent last year.
More than a quarter of Britons have been subjected to debit or credit card fraud, according to research conducted by CPP last month.
In 2008, 26 percent of Britons were victims of the crime, up from 21 percent the previous year. Online criminals contributed the biggest share, with 39 percent of the frauds, while card cloning was responsible for 21 percent.
Kerry D'Souza, a card fraud expert at CPP, suggested that the economic downturn was affecting how fraudsters go about their business, with many "turning to more desperate measures". She added: "In particular, we found that it is a result of cloning of chip and pin machines. Online fraud is also a key area that has risen over the last year."
The amount of money being defrauded has also risen. More than two thirds of those who became victims lost upwards of £500, while one in 20 said they had seen more than £2,000 taken from their accounts.
However, just one third of respondents said they plan to look at their bank statements more regularly in 2009. This is despite both the increase in fraud and 17 percent saying that it will be a larger worry for them this year compared with 2008.
