Overseas crime pushes up card fraud figures
Fraud on credit and debit cards rose by 26% in the first six months of the year, according to figures from the payments association APACS.
Domestic card fraud fell by 4%, but fraud on UK-issued cards being used abroad increased by 126%, which APACS said was the main reason for the overall increase.
British retailers' card-related losses were down by 11%, largely because of the introduction of Chip and PIN, while losses at UK cash machines also fell by 57%.
An APACS spokeswoman said:
"These figures show how the fraudsters have changed tack. A couple of years ago they were mainly stealing cards and card details for use in UK shops and cash machines, but today, because of Chip and PIN, they have been driven overseas - using fake magnetic stripe cards specifically in countries which have yet to upgrade to Chip and PIN."
