Shoppers are set to bamboozle internet fraudsters with a new Visa voucher which allows them to change their card details every time they spend money online.

More than half of Britons shopped online last year, spending a record £22 billion, according to recent figures from APACS, the Association of Payment Clearing Services. But fraudsters are also cashing in. Last year, card-not-present fraud - by internet, phone and email - rose by 21 per cent to £183 million.

Each 3V voucher, worth between £20 and £200, comes with its own 16 digit number. Once a shopper buys a voucher, a matching expiry date and security code is texted to their mobile phone. These details will be accepted by online retailers as a Visa credit or debit card payment.

Kieron Guilfoyle, of 3V Transaction Services, the Irish firm which created the vouchers in association with Visa, said: "The launch of 3V vouchers is great new for people in the UK who want to shop online but don’t want to because of the fear of fraud or going into the red."

But experts have warned that while shoppers may feel more protected against fraud by using these vouchers, they come at a hefty price. Each voucher costs £3.50. Those buying a £20 voucher will be paying an effective charge of 17.5 per cent.

Customers who fail to spend the full value of their voucher before the expiry date, which is usually about three months after purchase, will have to pay £1.75 in order to have the funds returned to them.

Robert Kenley, head of cards at Moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website, says: "Those who have a credit or debit card are already protected against internet fraud, so paying this much for a voucher could be expensive. But the vouchers might be a viable alternative for those who can not get a credit or debit card. But customers should by a voucher for £200, thus cutting down the effect of the fee."

Under the terms of the Banking Code, customers whose credit card details have been stolen and used fraudulently can seek redress from the card issuer.

But some banks are clamping down on compensation. Earlier this month Bank of Ireland said that it would no longer compensate customers who reveal personal information in response to scam emails.

More than 60,000 customers signed up for the vouchers during a year-long pilot in Ireland and they are to be launched in Europe next year.