Many people will have heard about identity theft in the media lately. Identity theft is a growing problem in the UK, having originated in the US. It involves stealing the personal information of an unsuspecting person and using this information to get access to their bank account or other funds such as their credit card. These days, so much of our financial system is computerised that it is very possible to get away with thousands of pounds of someone else's money, especially if it is on a credit card, before anyone will notice what has happened.
Most people will have a huge amount of funds available to them on their credit cards alone. In fact the average customer will often have as much as ten thousand pounds or more available to them instantly in the form of credit card debt. While most people would not wish to ever spend this much money on their credit card, it is available to them and if it were to be spent without their knowledge they would have a very hard time paying it all back.
This is exactly what an identity thief will do. They will max out as much of the credit available to you that they can get their hands on leaving you with potentially disastrous and crippling debts. There are not too many people who could easily afford to have ten thousand pounds of their money spent behind their backs without some serious consequences.
Credit card theft is also on the increase. There are many scams and schemes out there which will involve making you spend money on your credit card that you do not want to spend, or simply getting access to your account and spending the money for you without your permission or consent.
All of this has led many people to wonder just how secure their credit cards are. Well the fact of the matter is that you will not be held liable for all the money that is lost when you are the victim of identity theft. So long as you have had no part in the theft and it has not occurred due to some fault of your own, then you will only be liable for up to fifty pounds per card. This provides a great sense of comfort to people who are worried about identity theft.
You do have duties regarding this however. The first is that you must report the theft or loss of your credit cards as soon as is possible after you find out that they are missing. You must also not give out your pin number to anyone no matter what the circumstances. If you follow these simple rules, you will not be liable for the money others manage to steal from your account.
Chip and Pin, the much vaunted credit card security system brought in to combat credit card fraud has been breeched. Recently anyone using their credit card in any Shell petrol stations has been exposed to a new method of credit card fraud. It seems crooks have managed to plant a device into a chip and pin machine, which reads and stores a credit card holder's information, including their PIN (Personal Identification Number) |
