Card fraud in UK 'worst in EU'

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Card fraud in UK 'worst in EU'

Wed 22nd Nov 2006

Card-spending Brits are proving a hit with the fraudsters due to their propensity for paying with the plastic, according to a spokesperson for credit reference agency Equifax.

Britain is currently the card-fraud capital of the European Union (EU), new research by the European Security Transport Association has discovered, with almost one in five adults in the UK targeted at some point by card scams.

This points to the fact that UK citizens are twice as likely to become victims of credit or debit card fraud than their European neighbours.

Neil Munroe, spokesperson for Equifax, said "It probably doesn't come as any surprise to anybody that the UK is one of the primary centres for card fraud. It is very heavily associated with the very heavy use of credit cards in this part of Europe."

The research findings come in the wake of rising incidents of 'phishing' – a term that is used to refer to the act of fraudsters sending unsolicited emails to people in a bid to gain their card details.

A spokesperson for Apacs, Mark Bowerman, did praise the widespread introduction of chip and pin as a deterrent to the criminals, saying that fraudsters were having to go abroad in increasing numbers to commit their crimes.

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