Losses by UK banks from non-plastic related fraud totalled £107.6m in 2004, an increase of 11% on last year, according to figures released by the British Bankers' Association (BBA).
BBA says potential losses from cheque fraud attempts increased by 20% to £665 million although 93% of this was prevented, resulting in an actual loss of £46.22 million, an increase of two per cent over 2003.
According to the stats, potential losses from fraud increased by 18% to £1.152bn during the period, but over 90% of this was prevented by internal systems in place by banks.
Sally Scutt, deputy chief executive, BBA, says losses from fraud continue to cause concern and the association has recently introduced new guidance for fraud prevention managers.
"We all have our part to play in reducing fraud and a good start is to ensure that all documents containing personal information are disposed of properly, preferably by shredding," says Scutt.
Statisitcs released by the Association for Payment Clearing Services last week showed that fraud commited on plastic payment cards increased 20% in 2004 to £504.8m. The figures also showed that total losses for online banking fraud hit £12m last year.