Keep your card safe

Credit card fraud

Despite the recent introduction of chip-and-PIN technology, credit card fraud is on the increase. Statistics from The Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) show that Credit card chicanary cost over ₤500 million in the year 2004. This is a 24 percent increase from the year 2003, when credit fraud was ₤420 million.

It had been thought that the introduction of a four-digit PIN code would make it harder for credit fraud to occur because PIN codes are harder than forging signatures. However fraudsters have been fighting against such fraud prevention procedures by intercepting credit cards before they reach their owners.
In 2004 an average of 200,000 cards were sent to cardholders every day. The reason for the unusually high number of cards being sent out was due to the introduction of new chip-and-PIN cards.