One in 10 people have been the victim of a cyber-attack on their credit or debit card in the last year, new research from comparethemarket.com reveals.

Victims lost an average of £475 each and a third (31%) said the hack occurred when they made an online payment, while 10% had their card duplicated at an ATM and 8% werehacked when using contactless technology.

According to recent reports, the value of e-commerce card fraud alone (fraud related to online retail) has reached an estimated £110m. But despite the high cost of cyber-attacks, many people are still not taking the necessary steps to protect their money online.

Getting serious with security

A survey of over 2,000 people revealed that a quarter use the same pin number and password for all their cards and online accounts.

Over half (53%) said they did so for ease and 42% said they didn’t want to have to remember more than one number.

The research also showed that ‘getting hacked’ was a wakeup call.

Nearly half (49%) of victims said they now check their bank accounts more regularly, a third (33%) never give bank details over the phone and 29% admit to paying for more items with cash and making online transactions less frequently.

Banks on the ball

Victims were mostly satisfied in the way their bank or provider handled the fraid with 71% saying their bank or credit card company had acted to alert them of a security breach while a third (33%) were contacted within 24 hours of the hack occurring.

Jody Baker, head of money at comparethemarket.com, said: “We’re constantly being warned of the dangers of cyber-attacks but it is still a shock if it happens to you. Most of the transactions we make now are digital and our research suggests that over a quarter of people carry as little as £10 in cash.

“With so many of us shopping and banking on the internet, combined with a rise in contactless payments, it is more important than ever to be vigilant when managing your money. It is a good idea to regularly check your bank statements for any unusual activity as criminals often make small but regular thefts which are harder to spot than larger one-off purchases.”