Figures for online theft in the US are staggering. Should South Africans be scared?

Online theft from cheque accounts is now the biggest form of consumer theft in the US, with nearly two million accounts raided in the last 12 months, and $2.4 billion siphoned off - or an average $1 200 loss per incident.

The figure, arrived at by research firm Gartner, is staggering, but entirely understandable given the growth in online banking in recent years. Also on the rise is the technique known as "phishing", whereby fraudsters con users into providing account details, user names and passwords through bogus e-mails purporting to be from legitimate financial institutions.