Consumers warned against 'skimming fraud'
Consumers warned against 'skimming fraud'
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Tuesday, 09, May 2006 09:33
A senior official at the Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) has warned consumers of the need to remain vigilant against so-called 'skimming fraud' following the introduction of chip-and-pin technology in February this year.
Sandra Quinn, director of corporate communications at Apacs, said that despite developments in new technology 'skimming', a technique involving copying the magnetic strip that authorises debit cards, would not be going away in the short term.
Fraud has dropped by some £65 million a year since the advent of chip-and-pin cards but reports of skimming fraud has continued to rise. Speaking on Channel Four, Ms Quinn explained why the introduction of chip and pin had not cured such frauds.
"We've still got the position where some countries have chip and pin in full and some countries don't… you've got some countries that are actually upgrading at the moment," she said.
Ms Quinn remarked: "By the end of 2007 most of Europe will be using the same platform as we are using at the moment in the UK."
However some consumers are concerned the ease of obtaining a pin number from the magnetic strip on bank cards means it will not be long before the chips are copied also, something Ms Quinn denied.
She explained: "They are not going to be doing that for some time because what we have done is make copying the chip a unique and difficult experience… because it is going to be too expensive…fraudsters are going to be discouraged by it."
Yesterday, fuel distribution company Shell cancelled chip and pin payments at all of its 600 petrol stations in the UK after a £1 million fraud was revealed by the Metropolitan police.