It seems like the only thing most of us will be able to count on getting this Christmas is an extra load of SPAM (junk e-mail) followed closely by another rise in credit card fraud. We wish you a..

Statistics from the Association for Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) have revealed that credit card fraud via the internet, phone or fax has risen by a third over the last two years. Many people continue to ignore basic security measures:

19% of people have let others use their card to buy items online, phone or by fax, while 37% never shred or burn their credit card statements.

Web-User also reports that Clearswift, an anti-spam company, expects waste e-mails to increase over the Christmas period as SPAMMERS target online shoppers:

Anti-spam company Clearswift found that the amount of finance-related spam increased from 12 to 24 per cent in October, with most offering cheap loans to help web users pay for their purchases.

According to the report unsolicited email offering gadgets and hi-tech products such as DVD burners also increase in October, featuring in 15 per cent of spam emails.

"It is interesting that spammers have already been influenced by Christmas. Not only are spammers developing more and more cunning ways of getting around email filtering technology, but their marketing strategy is clearly up to scratch too," said Alyn Hockey, Clearswift's Director of Research. "I wonder if they'll be having January sales?"