BANK card fraud in Thamesmead and Plumstead is the worst in the country, according to new research.

Research by fraud specialist firm, The 3rd Man, in partnership with directory company, 192business.com, revealed that Thamesmead and Plumstead had the highest rate of fraudulent transactions in the UK.

Based on an analysis of over 30 million card transactions, from January to June, the findings showed that 2,203 out of 15,970 transactions made in Thamesmead were fraudulent - the worst in the UK.

Plumstead was the UK's second worst area with 2,121 out of 34,642 transactions found to be fraudulent.

And Catford, in Lewisham, was the 4th worst area in south east London with 557 fraudulent transactions made out of 25,388.

Director at The 3rd Man Andrew Goodwill claims that areas worst affected by fraud are those with high levels of social deprivation and identified the internet as one of the main sources used by fraudsters.

Mr Goodwill said: "Bank card fraud tends to happen in areas populated by a particular social group, namely immigrants, eastern Europeans, and the unemployed.

"Often people access your personal details from websites with poor security and then sell that information to others on special online forums.

"So, be careful when you're buying online because if it looks too good to be true, it probably is."

Mr Goodwill argued that the police and the Government need to do more to tackle the problem.

He said: "The only way to tackle this problem is through better policing to specifically target the criminals and this has proved to be successful in other towns such as Liverpool and Kilmarnock.

"There needs to be more investment from the Government into police resources to tackle fraud which often helps fund other things such as drug trafficking and terrorism."