A HEADTEACHER has revealed how she lost thousands of pounds in the space of a few minutes at the hands of cyber criminals, as police warned that the gangs are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Jennie King told a documentary to be shown tonight that £15,000 was plundered from her bank account by criminals.

The rise of cyber crime is costing the UK more than £80billion with businesses struggling following the economic downturn among the targets of cyber-criminals, police have warned.

One senior police expert said the problem could be fatal to many firms, in particular small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

In her case, Mrs King told the BBC Scotland programme that she received a telephone call saying there had been unusual activity on her credit card.

The victim said that she hung up and rang her bank, using the number on the back of the card. The woman who replied asked her for security information then said her account had been hacked, and money stolen.

Her best bet was to transfer her remaining funds into a separate, safe account, which Mrs King did.

A criminal gang had already obtained Mrs King's personal details. When she rang her 'bank', they had simply stayed on the line, feeding in fake dialling tone and ringing tones. As she had transferred the money herself, her bank refused to give her a refund.

Detective Superintendent Steve Wilson, Head of Police Scotland's Cybercrime Unit, which is based in Glasgow, found that offences overall hit a peak at the end of last year, with the business community specifically targeted.

He said: "We have seen a large number of businesses being targeted across Scotland in a multitude of sectors.

"Certainly the financial sector and agriculture, but predominantly in the small and medium enterprises up to 200 employees.

"A lot of businesses may not recover from a cyber attack simply because it's stolen personal data. They've stolen customer data and it can cause real problems for the viability of that business in the long term."

A former drug dealer also told the programme how he turned to online fraud in search of an easier and more lucrative life.

The man appears on camera in a hooded top and dark glasses, with a scarf concealing the lower half of his face. His job, he said, is to buy victims' data, or profiles, from hackers 'and then to rob those victims blind'.

He boasted that he could earn more than dealing drugs. He added: "I could earn more, for instance, sometimes in a day than I could earn in a month selling drugs. In a good week, you could be talking up to £35,000."

The man speaks of the value of such personal data as dates of birth or postcodes. He adds: "Half the country, or even more, wouldn't realise what people can do with this information."

James Lyne, Director of Technology Strategy at software company Sophos, demonstrates how criminals can steal data by using a hacking kit which can be bought legally online. Sophos's cybercrime map shows that much of the illegal activity is coming from Russia.

He says: "Russia is a huge player in the global network of malicious code, in spam. Russian criminal gangs, Russian developers, and frankly just hosting services in Russia are often used as a major part of many of the campaigns we see online today."

l BBC Scotland Investigates: Gangsters.com, BBC 1, 10.35pm.