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UK Credit Card Fraud Figures For 2007 ReleasedNew figures released this week - 11th March 2008 - show that UK credit card fraud has risen once again. This is despite the introduction of CHIP and PIN technology in 2006 which was expected to solve all these problems... It seems that credit card fraud rose by a whopping 25% in 2007, to £535 million. Apparently, criminals have used sophisticated bugging devices in stores at till terminals to copy the magnetic strip and PIN code. They use this information to produce cloned credit and debit cards. These cards are then sent abroad to be used in such far flung places as India, Pakistan and Morocco. This type of fraud rose by 77% in 2007 and seems to be behind the overall rise. Whilst CHIP and PIN has lowered some types of fraud, it has increased the risk of others. For example, in the past, a consumer would only need their PIN number at a cashpoint or ATM. Now however, they are called into action on a very regular basis. This means that there are more opportunities to compromise that PIN number. UK credit card fraud rose by 6% when related to purchases made online or by mail order. These numbers were released by the Association of Payment Clearing Services. They represent banks on card use throughout the UK. Please click here to return to the UK Identity Theft News page:
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