Beware: Credit card theft on the rise

New shocking stats

More than one in 10 Britons have had to cancel a credit or debit card in the past year due to online fraud, according to new research by comparethemarket.com.

The latest statistics show a worsening state of affairs when it comes to cybercrime, with the number of people cancelling cards rising from 4.5 million to 5.5 million since the research was last conducted in September 2016. These findings further add to concerns that consumers’ money isn’t safe in the bank.

Out of the people who had money stolen because of a hack, the average amount taken rose from£475 to £600 compared to the last survey. Issues of hacking present a real problem for banks’customer retention, as almost one in four customers who had money stolen changed, or are in the process of changing, bank or credit card provider.

However, despite the lack of trust that stems from being hacked, customers are broadly happy with how cyber-attacks are dealt with. 91 per cent of customers who were the victim of a hack being satisfied with the way in which the company handled the issue.

Shakila Hashmi, head of money at comparethemarket.com, said: 

“These are worrying findings. While banks and their customers are becoming wiser to the serious threat of cybercrime, this research shows that there is a lot more work to be done to stem the growing tide of attacks. Both the card provider and customer have a responsibility to protect their accounts from intrusion and theft.”