16,000 instances of bank account misuse during the first five months of 2010, according to one organisation.

Cifas - the UK's Fraud Prevention Service - has revealed the figures, which might include online bank accounts, were one per cent higher than in the same period in 2009.

The misuse of other UK accounts, insurance policies and other facilities has gone down by nine per cent.

Dean Bove, Cifas communications officer, said the figures suggest that legitimately obtained products, which could include savings account, are being used by criminals to store their funds.

He added: "With the sophistication of today's organised fraudsters, consumers must be very wary of agreeing to conduct financial transactions on a third-party's behalf."

The company is the world's first not-for-profit fraud prevention data sharing scheme, which aims to make sure that innocent members of the public who have become victims of fraud do not have their identities misused.