Release/Rhyddhau: 9 March 2005
Card fraud is now a
national crisis says AM
Peter Black,
the Welsh Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Social Justice today returned to
the theme of credit and debit card fraud in the light of a new report from
APACS (the Association for Payment Clearing Services), that credit and debit
card fraud has increased to a record £500 million last year.
The APACS
report shows losses from fraud rose by 20 per cent last year, despite the introduction
of new chip and PIN technology. Banks and retailers had hoped that the new
technology would cut down on fraud. Instead, criminals have stepped up their
activities. An average of 100,000 credit cards were posted to customers each
day of last year. The losses from those intercepted by fraudsters went up to
£73m – a staggering 62% rise.
“This level of
loss – around £10 per adult per year – means that fraud in Wales tops £20
million pounds,” said Mr. Black. “Even the introduction of ‘chip and PIN’ – by
no means a complete protection from fraud whatever the banks may try to tell us
– will not stop criminals stealing a card before the rightful owner gets it,
and yet some banks and financial institutions still insist in sending them out
ready for use.”
“Not only do
the banks need to look at the way they sell credit to people, they also need to
take card security more seriously. Those banks that send out activated cards
need to be made to stop. I understand that arranging for customers to contact
their bank in order to confirm their identity and activate their new card will
cost the banks money, but it is simply a price they will have to pay. In
addition, Royal Mail must give more attention to security. Customers cannot be
expected to resolve this on their own.”