Credit Card Fraud

Credit fraud is the act of using someone else’s credit card or details in order to obtain money or goods.

There are different types of credit card fraud:

Lost or stolen credit card

This occurs when credit card fraud is committed using a stolen credit card (e.g. at an ATM), it is considered a form of identity theft.

Identity theft

This type of credit fraud is when the thief uses personal information to open an account in someone's name. This can take much longer and be more difficult for the fraud victim to correct this identity theft via their financial institutions.

Skimming

In this process, a dishonest merchant will copy the magnetic strip and credit information during otherwise legitimate transactions.

Annual cost of credit card fraud

Credit fraud costs 100's of millions of pounds every year and billions worldwide.

The introduction of chip & PIN in 2005 put this figure sharply.