Credit Card Fraud Still a Threat To Millions of UK Consumers
A new report from Morgan Stanley reveals that millions of UK consumers are placing themselves at risk from credit card fraud. This is despite repeated warnings from the credit card industry of the dangers of card fraud and how not to fall victim to it.
 Morgan Stanley have released data that show that 40 per cent of UK consumers still discard credit card, store card and bank statements without shredding them first. Shredding statements and documents that contain personal and sensitive information helps reduce the risk of fraud. The under-30’s are the worst culprits as 59 per cent fail to shred these statements before discarding them.
Throwing away statements can allow fraudsters to gain vital information from which they are able to commit fraud and enabling them to take out credit in that person’s name.
Patrick Muir, Morgan Stanley credit card marketing director, said: "The findings fuel concerns that Britons are not taking heed of warnings to protect themselves.
"There has been a lot of attention placed on the issue of ID theft but, worryingly, many people still don’t believe it could happen to them. Our fraud department deals with a number of cases every year and many victims do not realise they have fallen prey to fraudsters for many months."
He added, " This has lengthy and far reaching consequences, so we would suggest taking out an ID theft insurance policy to safeguard against this headache."
Another way that consumers are putting themselves at risk from ID theft is by using the same password or PIN number for multiple accounts, which could result in a fraudster gaining access to various accounts by simply having access to one password or PIN. Using unique passwords or PIN’s for each individual account greatly reduces the risk of accounts falling prey to fraud.
Some other tips for protecting against ID fraud are:
- Shredding all documents and statements that contain personal details
- Not storing or recording passwords, PIN’s or account numbers
- Thoroughly scrutinising all bank and card statements for any discrepancies
Alisdair Milton
11th January 2007
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More Information:
- Identity Theft
Identity theft is a major issue in the UK, and with good reason. It has been estimated that it can take up to sixty hours of work to recover a stolen identity, and in the worst cases, cost up to £8000 to put right. But what can be dome to prevent this?
- ‘Vishing’ – A New Type Of Credit Card Fraud
With the full integration of Chip and PIN technology in 2005, credit card fraudsters now have to look for ever more ingenious ways to try and defraud UK credit cardholders. Topping this list is a very ingenious and sophisticated telephone scam that fraudsters are using to obtain the credit details of cardholders – ‘vishing’.
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