The amount of money lost to fraudsters by customers and businesses using online banking nearly doubled last year amid a growing number of computer viruses and new tricks used by conmen to convince people to give their financial details over the phone.

Some 53,192 fraud cases relating to online banking were recorded last year for a total loss of £60.4million in 2014, which represents a 48 per cent increase on the £40.9million stolen in 2013, figures from Financial Fraud Action UK have showed.

The body, which leads the payments industry fight against fraud, said the losses were somehow ‘modest’ considering that about 53 per cent of the UK population, or about 26.9million adults, carry out their financial transactions online, according to the latest official figures.

Online fraud: Some 53,192 fraud cases relating to online banking were recorded last year, FFA UK said

FFA UK said the data also suggested that businesses had become a growing target for criminals as they often have higher amounts in their accounts, with this being reflected in a greater average loss per case during 2014.

The other biggest rise in fraud concerns telephone banking, with losses soaring 20 per cent to £13.9million in 2014 from £11.6million in 2013.

WHAT THE POLICE OR YOUR BANK WILL NEVER ASK YOU Phone you to ask for your 4-digit card PIN or your online banking password, even by tapping them into the telephone keypad.

Ask you to withdraw money to hand over to them for safe-keeping.

Ask you to transfer money to a new account for fraud reasons, even if they say it is in your name.

Send someone to your home to collect your cash, PIN, payment card or cheque book if you are a victim of fraud.

Ask you to purchase goods using your card and then hand them over for safe-keeping.

FFA UK said criminals were changing their tactics to get their hands on people’s cash, increasingly trying to trick customers into handing over details such as their PIN code or date of birth over the phone rather than directly attacking the payments technology as banks and card providers have increased their security features.

Detective chief inspector Perry Stokes, head of the payments industry-funded Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit, warned that fraudsters could be very convincing and often target people over the phone.

‘If you receive a phone call out of the blue, never take for granted that the caller is who they say they are, even if they seem to know a lot about you.

‘If you're asked for your card details, Pin number or to transfer money to another account from someone who has cold-called you, my advice is to hang up the phone immediately and to report the incident to your bank.’

Overall, card fraud losses surged by £28.6million to £479million in 2014, a 6 per cent rise on the 2013 figure of £450.4million, FFA UK said. This, however, is still 21 per cent lower than the peak of £609.9million back in 2008.

The rise in card fraud was partly driven by a rise in criminals using UK cards fraudulently abroad, where they can potentially get round some of their security features. Some £150.3million were lost because of this last year, a 23 per cent increase on £122million loss in 2013, FFA UK said.

Contactless: FFA UK said fraud on contactless cards remains ‘very low’ at £153,000

The number of card transactions taking place generally has increased by 50 per cent since 2008, with 15.8billion transactions in 2014.

Losses on purchases using a card remotely, such as online, over the phone or by mail order, increased by 10 per cent in 2014 to £331.5million. Contained within these figures, e-commerce card fraud losses increased by 14 per cent year-on-year to reach £217.4 million.

FFA UK said fraud on contactless cards remains ‘very low’ at £153,000, representing 0.7p in every £100 spent on contactless.

Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Clark of City of London Police said they welcomed the FFA UK’s support for a national cyber fraud campaign to raise awareness.

‘Investigation and prosecution is part of the answer but this work must be complemented by helping people of all ages and backgrounds to understand the steps they can take to protect themselves from fraudsters and the scams they create to access our money, our personal and financial information and our IT systems,’ Clark said.

Losses declined at both retailers and ATMs in the UK, with decreases of 14 per cent to £49.2million and 15 per cent to £27.3million respectively.

Meanwhile, cheque fraud losses continued to fall significantly, with £17.8million lost in 2014 down from £27.5million the previous year, representing a 35 per cent drop and the lowest ever loss since records began.