Analysis of card fraud data by FICO has highlighted the fact that the UK has the biggest card fraud problem in Europe, and also that it accounted for 34.5% of all the card fraud reported throughout the continent, eclipsing all other countries and hammering France into second place. A fraud expert has said that the record figures indicate that consumers will have to put up with even more identity checks when making purchase, such as the card fraud identity check phone calls that many consumers now receive when making a purchase.
There are, in fact, several different types of card fraud that may be instigated. In the UK, Cardholder Not Present or CNP transactions are the primary driving force behind the high levels of fraud. These transactions are essentially any transaction where the cardholder is not at a terminal, so includes phone and Internet charges, as well as those that are performed by another person on behalf of the card holder.
Other forms of card fraud include identity theft, which was the primary form of card fraud in France, which came a relatively distance second to the UK in the overall tables. This type of card fraud, along with counterfeit cards, postal theft, stolen cards and ID fraud have all dropped in the UK but CNP card fraud incidents are at their highest levels since their peak in 2008.
A total of €1.55bn of money was defrauded around Europe throughout the year, and the UK saw £450m of fraud, or approximately 34.5% of the whole industry. France was a distance second, with its €429m accounting for 27% of the total. The UK endured a 16% increase in fraud figures, which means that it broke the previous record of 2008 for fraud.
Other countries did witness high increases, too. Norway and Russia, for example, saw high percentage rises in fraud figures, but they accounted for considerably less of the overall total than either the UK or France. According to experts, the fraud peak in 2008 led many companies and organisations to pay for improvements in fraud detection and prevention, but criminals simply move on to new techniques and those same companies that were hit before do not become willing to pay for additional funding until they experience a major problem again.