The number of reported money-transfer frauds and the losses from them increased in the first half of 2005 from the same period last year, but total crimes, including those committed by minors, decreased for a third straight year, the National Police Agency said Thursday.

This year saw 11,567 cases of fraud -- in which swindlers usually tricked people over the phone into sending money to designated bank accounts -- reported between January and June, up 11.2 percent from 2004, the NPA said.

The money fraudulently being transferred into bank accounts amounted to about 11.9 billion yen, an increase of 37.5 percent from the same period last year, the agency said.