Credit card fraud rampant in the UK

Attempted frauds go unreported and ignored, analysts claim

Clement James, vnunet.com 24 Jul 2008

Figures released in April show that card-not-present crime is far higher than official figures suggest.

Security experts this week demonstrated that fraudulent credit card activity in the UK is worth over £500m, considerably more than official statistics suggest.

Research published by security specialist The 3rd Man and 192business.com claimed that for every fraud that is reported, a further eight attempted frauds go unreported and ignored by law enforcement and banks.

"Investigations like these continue to show that card crime is a major and growing threat to consumers and retailers," said Andrew Goodwill, fraud expert and director at The 3rd Man.

"By pooling and sharing online retailers' transaction data and their fraud experiences, we can see exactly how that trend is changing and continuing to grow. Fraudsters simply do not give up."

The study revealed that London tops the league of fraudulent card transactions, particularly in the south east of the capital. Thamesmead (SE28) gained notoriety as the place with the most fraudulent activity in the UK.

Based on an analysis of over 30 million 'good' and 'bad' card transactions over the past six months, the findings focus on fraudulent activity by postcode.

In the south east of London, for example, SE28, SE18, SE15, SE6 and SE17 house the worst offenders.

Other hotspots in the top 10 include Manchester (fifth), Romford (third), Ilford (eighth), Dartford (tenth), Coventry (seventh) and Nottingham (ninth).

Beyond the top 10 places, Wales and Northern Ireland are the least fraudulent places in the UK, with only Cardiff and Belfast recording notable levels of card fraud activity.

Exeter has the most fraudulent activity in the south west of England, while Newcastle has the highest score in the north east.

In Scotland, Aberdeen and Glasgow have relatively high incidents of fraud compared to other parts of the country.

David Pope, director of 192business.com, said: "Until the government devotes more resource for every police force to tackle card fraud, the fraudsters will see card fraud as easy pickings.

"In fact, several ex-fraudsters that I have met still perceive little risk in committing card fraud."

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