The amount of money stolen in credit and debit card fraud climbed by 25 per cent last year.
The total reached £535 million, with a sharp rise in fraud committed abroad by criminals using stolen UK card details.
Also on the rise was card-not-present fraud, a crime that involves using card details to buy goods online, by phone or via mail order.
The surge in card fraud losses marks the first since the introduction of chip-and-pin in 2003.
The issue of criminals exploiting less secure card payment systems in other countries is a pressing problem.
Fraud committed abroad represents £200 million of the UK total. Often fraudsters take UK credit card details to manufacture counterfeit cards that can then be used overseas.
Although card-not-present crime also soared to £290 million in 2007, up 37 per cent, Apacs, the payments organisation, said this was due to the massive increase in the number of consumers who shop online.
Date:14 March 2008
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