Highly-organised credit card fraudsters are targeting North Yorkshire on a massive scale, according to the county police's fraud squad.

The use of counterfeit and stolen cards is escalating, with conmen drawn to the rich pickings of York's out-of-town shopping centres.

Nationally, the number of crimes involving credit cards fraud rose by 46 per cent last year.

Detective Sergeant Kevin Ross, of North Yorkshire police's fraud squad, said he believed the county was keeping pace with the national picture.

He said there were about 100 incidents reported to the police in the county each month.

"This is a huge issue and one that is getting worse," he said.

"When you look at the new retail parks near York, like Clifton Moor and Monks Cross, you have a situation where the criminal can work his way through 40 or 50 shops in a day without having to travel more than a mile or two."

And it is not just home-grown criminals who are cashing in on a crime that cost retailers £189 million nationally last year.

"We are now attracting the unwanted attention of criminals from the North East, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Humberside," said DS Ross, who has himself been the victim of credit card fraud.

Among the most common types of credit card fraud are: Counterfeit cards; Card not present(CNP) fraud, typically used over the phone or on the Internet; Application fraud, where cards are applied for fraudulently;

Skimming, where the magnetic strip is copied by unscrupulous retailers; Cards that are stolen, including from postal deliveries and break-ins.

DS Ross said counterfeit and CNP fraud involving the Internet were the big growth areas in the county at the moment.