Parents are being urged to be “vigilant with their bank card details” after more children under 16 commit credit card fraud by purchasing items online behind their back, research has revealed.

According to a study by CPP, one in five youths are committing fraud as they shop online using their parents’ credit cards without consent.

The study found that 15 year old boys were the worst making the most amounts of payments in a month.

Parents are being urged to hide their credit cards, passwords and usernames to avoid tempting children to commit such offence.

Identity theft expert, Michael Lyncy of CPP explained that providing these details may increase online crime as fraudsters and hackers may be able to obtain the details and make purchases without the card being at hand.

He said: “We are urging parents to be very vigilant with their bank card details, which may check any illicit temptation to shop online. Being lax with details online could not only tempt children into making sneaky purchases online, but also exposes parents to the dangers of online fraud.

“Web fraudsters are getting increasingly sophisticated, and card-not-present fraud is on the rise. We are advising people to make sure they log out of sites when finished, to check that shopping websites are legitimate and to avoid storing credit or debit card details online,” he added.