26 November 2008
Credit card holders are being urged to protect their PIN number in the run up to Christmas in order to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.
According to the fraud prevention service CIFAS, taking care with credit card details is always important, but more so as the festive season approaches.
Communications Manager Richard Hurley explains: "The extremes of Christmas jollity and stress make us even more vulnerable when making last minute purchases on the high street, shopping online, celebrating or just in our day to day lives."
CIFAS advises consumers to shield their PIN from others when paying for goods in shops and to be careful about leaving handbags and wallets lying around during the party season.
It also urges them not to use shared computers and public Wi-Fi zones when shopping online and to avoid carrying information such as PINs and passwords on their person.
According to the UK payments association Apacs, plastic card fraud losses rose by 14% in first six months of 2008 to £301.7 million.