We had ours cloned and someone tried to buy a holiday to Ibiza last year. Luckily they tested it out by paying for a taxi for a couple of pounds which alerted the bank. Santander sorted it straight away. I can't see however how a virus would make card crime spiral.....
Also, many of us are using our cards far more than we ever did before -and some people, previously used to always paying in cash, for the first time. The sheer number of card transactions makes it seem more likely for there to be an increase.
That happened to me a few years ago. Someone bought 3 Mobile PAYG phone credits on mine. When I phoned the bank they checked pending payments and there were quite a few $1 transactions with medical companies in the US which are tests to check that the card is still active. I hardly buy anything on the internet but had bought a concert ticket and a coach ticket. The bank said that most cloning comes from purchasing on the internet and you should never log your card details on websites.
happened to me a couple of years back..someone paid £500 for fancy knickers ! gadzooks ..got money back, but the lad at Barclays was laughing when I said I would never pay that for knickers !!