Credit card fraud soared by 40 per cent last year. Organised criminals using the Internet have fuelled the rise to a record £190 million, security experts warned.

Consumer spending on credit and debit cards in December rose by £500m to £14.5 billion, the Credit Card Research Group will announce tomorrow. One in every thousand of those transactions was fraudulent, according to credit security firm Apacs. The Home Office admitted last week that cyber-crime is booming.

Counterfeiting is responsible for 10 per cent of total fraud, according to Apacs. The rest is believed to be due to the rise of Internet and telephone sales.

Experts warn that a counterfeiting technique known as 'skimming' is more popular than ever. A genuine card is swiped through a card-reader, its data copied and used to make new magnetic strips for fake cards.

Organised gangs, believed to have Mafia and Triad links, recruit skimmers, often in restaurants or petrol stations, according to the security firms.

Up to 80 per cent of skimming is being attributed to Chinese Triads and the fear is that workers are recruited not just in Britain but also in their native country before they reach the UK. The National Criminal Intelligence Service recently said Triads are mainly responsible for trebling credit fraud between 1994 and 1998.

Mastercard's European security operation Europay's regional risk manager Paul Lucraft said: 'The greatest risk at present comes from highly organised international gangs who move across borders, and between jurisdictions. They use credit card data stolen from around Europe to make fraudulent credit cards. These cards are then used to buy bogus goods at a bogus retailer, through which the money reaches the fraudster.'

Fraudsters look for a country where retail security is weak, and target consumers to gain genuine card details to use elsewhere.

The revelations suggest Britain's security lags behind Europe, making it attractive for criminals. Chip cards which can protect information are not due to be issued before 2002. Even then, only half of Britain's retailers will use them. Valuable time is being wasted because security companies and retailers cannot agree on a method of cost-sharing for installation.