Credit card fraud reaches record level

Posted 2008-03-12

Last year saw a record 25 per cent surge in debit and credit card fraud, new figures published today by the Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) have revealed. Fraudsters siphoned off £535.2 million worth of illegal transactions throughout 2007, the new data reveals, even as experts claimed the chip & pin security regime has made our money safer than ever before. More than three quarters (77 per cent) of fraud is known to have taken place abroad, facilitated by improvements to criminals technological arsenal which have made it easier for them to store data from magnetic stripes. Among the new devices being widely used across the UK are bugging devices on till terminals and cash machines which store both card and pin information - allowing for the creation of clone cards which can be used anywhere in the world. However, Sandra Quinn, director of communications at Apacs, defended the new chip & pin system and insisted that the benefits will become more apparent as other countries sign up to the system. "As more countries follow our lead and upgrade to chip and Pin, the opportunities for criminals to use our stolen magnetic stripe details overseas will decrease," she asserted.

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