21 July 2008
Fraudulent credit card transactions increased by 20% last year to 2.7 million, according to figures from the UK payments association Apacs. The data, which was featured in the Home Office's annual crime figures report, shows that £555 million was lost to plastic card fraud in 2007. Crimes involving counterfeit credit and debit cards, where fraudsters use illegal copies of genuine plastic, saw the largest annual increase. These cases jumped by 46%. Meanwhile 'card not present' cases, where criminals use stolen card details to make purchases over the internet or by phone or mail order, rose by 37%. Apacs said the increase in card fraud has been driven by a rise in the number of fraudulent transactions abroad in countries that have not yet adopted chip and pin technology. However, a new survey by PayPoint.net reveals that 98% of online shoppers carry out at least one security check on the website they are buying from before inputting their credit card details, suggesting that consumers are wising up to card fraud.