The figures, from the Association of Payment Clearing Services (APACS), show there were 5,059 recorded incidents of people being lured into parting with their bank details on fraudulent websites. That's a 16% increase.

Online fraud cost banks £23 million, but the amount of money being lost to debit and credit card fraud is falling, due to the introduction of Chip and PIN technology.

Losses fell by 5% to £209 million and the number of cards stolen in the post was halved, the BBC reported.