Criminals Prefer Plastic
If the new figures showing that crime as a whole is falling in England and Wales
have you unscrewing the locks to your front doors and casting them into the nearest bin, then take heed: the small print shows that credit card fraud is actually on the up.
The figures, part of the latest British Crime Survey from the Home Office show that last year, 6.4% of plastic-card owners had fallen victim to fraud compared with 4.7% the year before, making it now the most common type of theft.
The British Crime Survey Card defines fraud as using plastic payment cards, such as bank, debit, credit or store cards, to take money without permission or prior knowledge from a bank, building society or credit card account.
Rather than targeting older people as is usually the case, the figures show that fraudsters prefer the middle age range. These were more than twice more likely to fall victim to fraudsters than those in the 16 to 24 years and 75 years or over brackets.
Similarly, unlike most other crimes, plastic card victimization also increases with higher household income. Just 2.7 per cent of card owners in households earning under 10,000 had been targeted, compared to 11.7 per cent of card owners in households with an income of 50,000 or more.
This could be partly because these groups are less likely to have bad credit rating credit cards which have smaller credit limits.
However, the study didn't find anything about travel - which may see users of use abroad credit cards breathing a sigh of relief.
As the figures show the second consecutive annual increase since 2006/07 it seems the card-holding public are increasingly aware of their plight. Indeed, they are now more worried about credit card fraud than they are about violent crime.
The survey found that 53 per cent of those asked were worried about having their cards stolen and used fraudulently, compared to 14 per cent who worried about becoming a victim of violent crime. Just over half of those who fell victim to card fraud said they suffered no monetary loss, although 25% were more than 150 out of pocket.
Of those who suffered from card fraud, only 14 per cent reported it to the police after noticing the problem, while 91 per cent reported it to their bank or building society.
It seems the banks have responded to these increases by making vast improvements to their customer service skills, as has been the case with the Virgin Money credit card.
Of those victims who discovered themselves they had been victims of fraud, satisfaction with the way the matter was handled were higher for banks, building societies and credit card companies than for the police.
This lack of trust in the police has led to increasing numbers of card holders acting to protect themselves against fraud. The majority (96%) of card owners took at least one measure to avoid their bank, building society or credit card account details being obtained by someone else.
Seventy-eight per cent of people surveyed routinely destroyed any documentation that contained personal financial information. In addition, 76 per cent said they regularly reviewed their bank statements to make sure all transactions were legitimate.
by: Justin Schamotta
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