More than 3.5 million internet users in the UK have fallen victim to online fraud in the last year, a new survey has claimed.
The government-supported Get Safe Online campaign says that the average amount of money lost to internet con-artists in 2006 was £875.
Get Safe Online managing director Tony Neate today said: "The internet is a fantastic resource and its use is growing daily. Unfortunately, it is now also being used by criminals who are out to defraud us."
Mr Neate is urging people to do more to protect themselves online by treating the internet with the same trepidation as they do the high street.
The popularity of online shopping has soared in recent years, with £30 billion now being spent by British shoppers every year.
But despite this, more than half of respondents said they did not feel responsible for their own online safety.
Garreth Griffith, head of trust and safety at internet auction site eBay and director of Get Safe Online, said: "You wouldn't give a stranger the key to your front door, but this is the situation many people unknowingly find themselves in with the more sophisticated forms of online fraud."
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