Credit, debit or pre-paid card fraud has increased by 37 per cent since 2011. And more than one quarter of people have been the victims of card fraud during the past five years, according to an ACI Worldwide-commissioned survey covering 17 countries around the world.

In the UK, 34 per cent of people have been the victims of card fraud in the last five years, up from the 2011 figure of 33 per cent. “The results of this survey show that card fraud continues to be one of the greatest dangers consumers, financial institutions and retailers face,” says Mike Braatz, senior vice president, payments fraud, ACI Worldwide. “While there have been significant technology advances in combating fraud it is clear that more needs to be done to educate consumers about fraud, engage them when fraud occurs and earn their trust. These results should serve as a call-to-action for financial institutions and retailers that they need to remain constantly vigilant and see their customers as an ally in combating fraud.”

Other findings include: After experiencing fraud, more than 50 per cent of cardholders used cash or an alternate form of payment instead of their credit or debit card; Identity theft replaced credit card fraud as the greatest concern from fraud exposure in the 2012 survey with 49 per cent of respondents indicating they were very concerned about possible harm to their financial standing and rating; Many consumers continue to exhibit risky behaviors that put them at higher risk of financial fraud, including keeping written records of PIN numbers, throwing un-shredded documents containing sensitive information into trash bins and using public computers or computers without security software to do Internet banking and to shop online.

The UK ranks sixth in the global card fraud ranking:
• Mexico 44%
• US 42%
• India 37%
• UAE 36%
• China 36%
• UK 34%
• Brazil 33%
• Australia 31%
• Singapore 26%
• South Africa 25%
• Canada 25%
• Italy 24%
• France 20%
• Indonesia 18%
• Germany 13%
• The Netherlands 12%
• Sweden 12%

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