Theft and wrong addressing of credit cards lead to steep increase in fraud

by Daniel Farey-Jones Brand Republic 10-Mar-05, 07:00

LONDON - Criminals getting hold of mailed-out credit cards before they reach genuine cardholders have more than doubled the amount of money they have stolen over two years, according to the latest figures from the Association for Payment Clearing Services.

"Mail non-receipt" fraud totalled £72.9m in 2004. This is a 62% increase on £45.1m in 2003 and a 96% increase on £37.1m in 2002.

APACS blamed the rise on the increased volume of cards sent out because of the rollout of the new Chip and Pin cards. In 2004, the average number of cards sent out a day was 200,000.

"Mail non-receipt" covers both cards stolen from hallways in communal flats and cards sent to the wrong address.

The total amount of card fraud committed in 2004 was £504.8m, up by 20% compared with £420.4m the previous year. The figure includes counterfeit cards, stolen or lost cards, card not present fraud, and ID fraud.

ID fraud was up 22% on 2003 to £36.9m. Almost two-thirds of ID fraud was carried out through account takeover, which increased 60% on 2003, whereas fraudulent applications declined 14%.

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