More credit and debit card fraud was carried out in London and South East in
the past six months than anywhere else in the UK, new figures have suggested.
The region saw £94m of fraud during the first six months of 2006.
But that figure is some 10% lower than the £104.4m recorded in the same period
last year, according to APACS, the UK payment association.
London was the UK's worst city for card fraud, accounting for £43.3m of the
region's total, up 0.5% on last year.
The largest growing card fraud across the country, according to APACS figures,
was through a phenomenon known as 'phishing'.
In a phishing incident, fraudsters set up a fake version of a genuine bank
website and then send out thousands or even millions of spam emails driving
consumers to the site. The idea is to fool people into giving up confidential
personal banking information online.
The statistics show that between January and June this year there were over
5,000 phishing frauds, compared to just 312 in the first six months of 2005.
Commenting on the figures, Sandra Quinn, director of corporate communications
at APACS, said: "These latest fraud figures show that the industry's efforts
are making their mark.
"However, each and every one of us can also help defeat the fraudsters and
protect our cards and online accounts by keeping our PINs, passwords and
personal information safe and secure."
 
=====