Banks turn to security chips as card scams top €5m per year
But banks and the travel industry yesterday advised card holders to be extra vigilant as credit card scams affecting Irish consumers continue to top €5m annually.
Credit card fraud is quite significant in the Irish market, the Irish Bankers’ Federation warned, despite the losses amounting to less than 0.1% of the €5.7bn turnover from credit cards.
Listeners to 2FM’s Gerry Ryan show yesterday complained of being ripped off in popular holiday destinations. However, the director general of the bankers’ federation Jim Bardon said its information sector had not issued any warnings about a suspected increase in fraud in Spain or Portugal.
“Credit card fraud is a global problem and the IBIS (Irish Banking Information Service) have not issued any alerts about any specific countries,” Mr Bardon said.
“The IBIS has issued regular warnings about stolen and counterfeit card crimes. Credit card holders are advised to carefully read an IBIS leaflet Play Your Cards Right which contains a number of important guidelines.
“Credit card holders should never leave their card unattended in places such as restaurants, should never disclose their PIN numbers and never leave blank the payment amount,” he added.
Mr Bardon said all credit and debit cards such as Laser will, by 2005, be re-issued with chip and PIN compatibility to help eliminate fraud.
“There are people making a living from credit card scams but, hopefully, over the next few years, the embedded chip will make it more difficult to use duplicate or stolen cards,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Irish Travel Agents Association said responsibility for credit card security remained primarily with card holders.
“Irish Travel Agents Association members regularly advises holidaymakers to be careful when presenting cards for payment in retail outlets,” ITAA president Tony Brazil said. “Card holders should not let the card out of their sight.
“The trade, itself, has to remain vigilant against people using counterfeit or stolen cards to buy airline tickets or services.
“The general advice to people is to be sensible and vigilant.”
