23 May 2007
Research from Equifax has revealed that a woman's handbag has become one of the major causes of credit card fraud.
Women are apparently putting themselves at an increased risk of credit card fraud by carrying all their debit and credit cards in their handbags.
According to Equifax, 80% of women take all of their cards wherever they go, meaning that a fraudster can easily get hold of the information needed to carry out a fraud.
Payslips, receipts, cheque books and National Insurance numbers were also found in abundance in women's bags.
"Women are carrying around enough information for a fraudster to apply for loans, mortgages, credit cards and bank accounts in their name," warned Neil Munroe of Equifax.
"Anything from payslips, driving licences and mobile phones can be found in a handbag and this is all it takes to commit ID fraud."
This news is particularly worrying given that Cifas, the UK's fraud prevention service, has recently announced that financial fraud is on the increase, with application fraud alone increasing by 21% in the first quarter of 2007.
Many credit card providers are attempting to protect their customers from credit card fraud by introducing checking systems to watch out for suspicious transactions.
Domestic chip and PIN readers are also being sent out by most of the major banks in an effort to cut unauthorised card-not-present spending.