Card fraud up by a quarter to £535m

Card fraud rose by 25 per cent in 2007, according to the latest figures from payment clearing industry body Apacs.

Apacs said £535.2m was lost to card fraud overall last year, due mainly to stolen UK card details used in countries yet to upgrade to chip and PIN - a 77 per cent rise on the year before.

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The biggest rise was in counterfeit, skimmed or cloned card fraud, which rose by 46 per cent over the year to £144m. However the biggest losses were in phone, internet and mail order fraud, up in 2007 by 37 per cent to £290m.

The biggest reduction was a fall of 18 per cent in fraud on lost or stolen cards to £56m.

In terms of UK regions, the South East tops the league with £178m lost on plastic card fraud on UK issued cards - almost the same as the previous year. The biggest growth was in the East Midlands with an increase of 52 per cent over the year. The biggest fall was in East Anglia, with a drop of 17 per cent to £4.8m.

The figures point to pre-chip and PIN card fraud not only shifting to other areas but actually increasing too. However, Apacs is determined to accentuate the positive effects of the technology.

In a statement, an Apacs spokeswoman said: "Although card fraud levels have now begun to go up again due to fraud abroad and card-not-present fraud losses, chip and PIN has proved to be an undoubted success in reducing card fraud on the UK high street."