-Credit card frauds - Statistics

It has become increasingly important that you shield your credit card or debit card from the fraudsters and use it wisely and carefully. Remember that fraudsters are just looking for opportunities where they can trace out the details of your credit card or debit card, and misuse it. All you end up doing is getting into an unwanted situation of financial obligation that you have not met and getting into legal proceedings. As it is said, “Prevention is better than cure”, so lets be cautious while using our credit card or debit card either online, or in-country retailers and especially while using the cards abroad.

The successful introduction of chip and PIN in the UK has meant that fraudsters are increasingly being driven overseas to commit card fraud on UK cards in countries where chip and PIN has not yet been rolled out. For e.g. US is yet to introduce chip and pin service and is still preparing to fight up against credit card frauds.

Here are some facts and statistics about the Credit card frauds that have been committed on UK based credit and debit cards in last few years. We believe this will give you enough insight into how important it is for anyone to prevent credit card or debit card misuse and protect his cards.
The statistics presented are gathered from various official sources like FSA records and those available online.


In 2006, fraud committed abroad using UK-issued credit and debit cards totalled £118.2 million. Although up 43 per cent from 2005 (£82.8 million) the British public are spending more abroad with their cards than ever before and the losses are still smaller than they were in 2001 and 2002 (£138.4m and £130.2m respectively).

However, you don’t necessarily have to leave the country to be a victim of fraud abroad. You may as well end up revealing your credit card or debit card details to a fraudster while staying in your own country and the fraudster may end up using your card for an online purchase from a foreign country. Some intelligent fraudsters even use card copiers, which replicate your credit card or debit card and create an exact duplicate card resembling your card. They then use the replicated card for purchases and the bills to be paid become your liability.

A proportion of this fraud occurs when your card or card details are stolen in the UK and then used fraudulently overseas. In 2006 the countries where most fraud occurred on UK-issued cards were the US (£16.7 million), France (£7.5 million), Spain (£6.7 million), Italy (£6.4 million) and Thailand (£4.1 million). So you see, the card details can be taken to any country and can be used from anywhere. Losses in the US, which as yet has no plans to rollout chip and PIN, were up 49% year-on-year. However, losses in France and Spain, countries that are rolling out the secure technology, have decreased by 35% and 30% respectively.

Hence, Chip and PIN service seems to be quite effective in fighting card frauds. Countries like Netherlands, have forced chip n pin service compulsorily, so is being implemented in UK as well.

This article was to give you a rough idea of how much prone your credit card is to frauds and hence you should ensure that you keep it at a safe place and don’t reveal the details while shopping or making online purchases.