Credit card fraud up by 10% last year

11 June 2008

Study by CIFAS finds increase in ‘scam rates’ in 2007

Recent research by CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service, has indicated that the number of fraud cases increased by 10% between the start of 2007 and the beginning of 2008. It also found that ‘scam rates’ are increasing each month.

The study also found that incidences of ‘facility takeover’, where a fraudster pretends to be a consumer so that they can gain access to their bank accounts or credit cards, had increased by 146 per cent over the same period.

As a result, one of the major credit reference agencies, Equifax, has suggested that fraud rates are increasing partly because credit card users are being too trusting with their financial information.

The firm went on to recommend that consumers start being more careful when it comes to disclosing their personal information, and become more aware of what fraudsters can do with it.

Neil Munroe, external affairs director at Equifax, said victims of fraud stand to lose more than they expect.

“You have to be very much more cautious about your information,” he said.

“Your personal credit profile is worth probably several times more than the maximum credit limit that you’ve got on a credit card in your wallet at the moment, if it gets into the wrong hands.

“That’s what people need to be wary of, don’t necessarily be so trusting that your information isn’t going to be taken and used in the wrong way,” he warned.