4.5m cash cards axed after fraud

MORE than four million credit or debit cards have been cancelled in the last year after their owners were hit by fraud.

A survey found that a tenth of customers were hit by the scams, with 62 per cent losing money from their account. The average amount stolen was £475.

Figures from the poll of more than 2,000 adults equate to 4.5million cards being cancelled and more than £2.1billion stolen, according to research carried out for comparethemarket.com.

Nearly a third of victims were hacked when paying online, a tenth had their card copied at an ATM and 8 per cent were hit making a contactless payment.

Jody Baker, head of money at the comparison website, urged consumers to be vigilant and check financial statements for any unusual activity.