April 15, 2015 - British businesses were hit by card fraud once every 20 seconds in March, with small businesses being the most popular targets.

UK payment company WorldPay saw over 133,000 fraudulent transactions worth £10 million reported in March, leaving businesses out of pocket as fraudsters purchased goods and services using stolen card details.

Over 67% of all fraudulent transactions happened online, while purchases made over the phone or by mail accounted for 19% of the total.

Tim Lansdale, head of payment security at Worldpay, says: "Technology to guard against card counterfeiting and fraud has come a long way, yet the rates of attack are truly alarming. Card details are the weakest links in consumers' and businesses' defences and the one area that fraudsters know to hone in on."