Fraudsters are becoming ever more devious in their attempts to steal internet users' credit card details.
Consumers are being warned to become more vigilant of online credit card scams as fraudsters become clever.
So-called phishing attacks have entered the public consciousness after years of warnings by governments and businesses. The technique involves a fraudster sending an email which purports to be from a rich king or businessman offering money - and asking for credit card or bank details, so it can be transferred.
While research shows that internet users are becoming more aware of the dangers of giving out financial information, it appears that the criminals have raised their game. Some are now pretending to be from a trusted source, such as a bank. Even the justice secretary Jack Straw had his email address hacked, allowing criminals to write to his contacts, pretending he needed money wired to an account in Nigeria.
One of the latest scams involves online payment service Paypal. Chief information security officer Michael Barrett revealed to Reuters that criminals had been writing to people pretending to be from the firm.
The company has now created a digital "signature" and any emails without it that claim to be from Paypal will be blocked by email providers.
"We know how many they throw away and it's approximately speaking about ten million a month," said Mr Barrett. "If the consumer never sees the email in the first place then it's hard for them to get victimised."
