£25m bill for plastic fraud abroad

12 April 2012

FRAUDSTERS bagged £25m using credit cards carried by Britons abroad last year, according to Sainsbury's Bank. The US was the riskiest for such rip-offs, with nearly one-fifth of overseas fraud on UK cards taking place in the States.

France emerged as the second most likely place to have your plastic stolen or lost cards misused, accounting for 17% of card crime abroad, followed by Spain at 16%. Italy came in fourth with 6% and Turkey fifth at 3%.

The group, a joint venture between Sainsbury's and the Bank of Scotland, added that card fraud at home and abroad had cost £411m in the past year, 30% more than a year earlier.

'People are preferring more than ever to carry and use cards rather than cash, and this is fuelling the increase in card fraud,' said spokeswoman Joanne Mallon. 'Holidaymakers need to make sure they safeguard their cards against fraudsters.'

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