Credit Card Fraud Falls

14th March 2007

The introduction of Chip and PIN, introduced on credit cards in February 2006, has made it more difficult for fraudsters to commit credit and debit card fraud, with losses at UK retailers falling by £146 million over the past two years according to the latest figures released by APACS, the UK payment association.

Criminals are however, still targeting our credit cards and debit cards with the aim of copying the magnetic stripe data. They then use this data to create counterfeit cards that they hope to be able to use in countries that have not yet upgraded to Chip and PIN. This has caused an increase in fraud abroad losses over the last 12 months.

"Chip and PIN has had a hugely positive effect on fraud losses over the counter in UK shops and stores, but we are seeing more fraud on transactions that do not use chip and PIN – such as over the internet and phone, by mail order and abroad in countries that have not yet fully upgraded to chip and PIN" said Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS.

APACS is urging online shoppers to register their credit cards with either Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode whenever they are given the option to do so. Cardholders simply need to register a private password with their card company for use when shopping online at participating retailers.