Concern over card fraud on holiday

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Card fraud is the second biggest concern for people travelling abroad, but not enough people are protecting themselves, a survey has found.

Electronic payments firm AIC Worldwide found that a third of people thought card fraud was a bigger risk overseas than in the UK.

And while 69 percent of people said they tried to do things like paying with cash to reduce their risk of card crime, others admitted to making potentially dangerous mistakes.

Half of the people surveyed said they never or rarely told their bank when they were out of the country, while 43 percent had let their cards be taken out of sight during transactions, meaning their details could have been copied.

Meanwhile 41 percent said they had not thought to take a back-up bank card on holiday, in case something happened to their main one. The risk of being a victim of crime while overseas is a good reason to look for travel insurance that will cover all eventualities.

Jim Oakes, managing director at Financial Crime Risk, said: "There are still a worrying number of people who are failing to do enough to protect themselves.

"While the banks themselves are continually updating fraud detection solutions, the survey results demonstrate that the individual still has a role to play in keeping their bank card safe and stopping it from getting into the hands of a criminal."

Respondents to the survey said the holiday mishap they feared the most was flight trouble, which may have been made worse by the recent ash cloud problems.

Copyright © Press Association 2010

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