Bill for remote card fraud climbs to £300,000 a day:
Mary O'Hara
Tuesday November 11, 2003
The Guardian
Credit card fraud in transactions using the phone, internet and mail order has climbed by a third in two years to more than £100m, according to research
A study by trade body, the Association of Payment and Clearing Services, found that 'card not present' fraud - where somebody uses the details from another person's card to make a purchase by remote means - has become a problem costing up to £300,000 a day.
It is now the second largest cause of card fraud in the UK. Since 1998 it has increased tenfold to £109m a year, and there are concerns that it will grow further as consumers in crease their spending in the run-up to Christmas.
'Fraudsters are constantly looking for new targets and organised criminals are probably behind the large growth in 'card not present' fraud,' the study concluded.
The study also reported a significant rise in fraud caused by identity theft - where a card holder's personal details are stolen and used by fraudsters to apply for credit. This is up from £15.4m to £25m a year, according to the latest figures."