Rise in credit card phone fraud

Shoppers who buy goods online, by mail order and over the phone are being hit by soaring levels of fraud, research published today reveals.

"Card-not-present" fraud, where goods are bought remotely, has leapt by a third to £109.6 million in two years. It is one of the fastest growing areas of credit and debit card fraud, according to the Association for Payment Clearing Services, the banking industry body.

Apacs figures show that while total credit and debit card fraud fell slightly to £411.6 million during the 12 months to 30 June, compared with the £431.3 million during the same period of 2002, "card-not-present" fraud has leapt - rising from £82.2 million in 2001.

Sandra Quinn of Apacs said: " Retailers lose a great deal of money to card-not-present fraud every year." Apacs is urging retailers selling online and over the telephone to check their security measures and to use verification checks such as customer addresses.