(Carrie-Ann Skinner, NetworkWorld) Cybercriminals sent 3.7 billion phishing emails over the last year, in a bid to steal money from unsuspecting web users, says CPP. 25% of Brits have been victims of scams, losing on average £285.

A new research revealed that 55% of phishing scams are fake bank emails, which try and dupe web users into giving hackers their credit card number and online banking passwords. Hoax lottery and competition prize draws and 'Nigerian 419' scams that involve email requests for money from supposedly rich individuals in countries such as Nigeria, were also among the most popular phishing emails.

CPP also revealed social networking scams are on the rise. Nearly one fifth of Brits have received phoney Facebook  messages claiming to be from friends or family in the past year. One in 10 fear that fraudsters are using Twitter to follow them, while a third are concerned their social networking account could be hacked.

"It seems that not a day goes by without a new case of online fraud hitting the headlines. But what's concerning is that consumers are still falling victim," said Nicole Sanders, an identity fraud expert at CPP.