The European Commission yesterday reported that credit card fraud
in the EU increased by 50% to over £379 million, a large proportion
of the increase concerning payments made by phone or over the
internet.
The Commission has launched a three-year Action Plan designed to
crack down on the growing problem of fraud and counterfeiting on
cards and other non-cash means of payment widely used for
cross-border transactions.
The level of fraud reported equates to approximately 0.07% of
the EU industry's turnover.
The Commission said that tackling the problem is principally the
responsibility of the payment systems industry and will depend
largely on non-legislative measures.
However, the Commission said it hopes to play a useful role in
establishing systems to ensure better information exchange,
stronger cross-border co-operation on co-ordinated preventative
measures, and clear and binding rules with adequate sanctions for
those found to break them.
The Commission, working closely with the payments industry,
Member State legislators and regulators and consumer groups,
intends to use the Action Plan to foster a coherent, global
approach to crime prevention.
The Action Plan includes such measures as:
- The introduction of a single phone number, operational in all
EU Member States (or at least a single phone number for all issuers
based in each Member State) so as to make it easier for consumers
to notify the loss or theft of their cards.
- The publication by the Commission, in co-operation with
national data protection authorities, of guidelines on conditions
for exchange of information related to fraud prevention.
- The setting-up of an EU-wide fraud prevention web site with
information on initiatives and links to all relevant
organisations.
- The introduction of specific initiatives to improve security of
payment products and systems based on the findings of a Commission
study on specific security aspects.
- To encourage the payment industry and law enforcement agencies
to agree on what key items of evidence are needed to investigate
and prosecute fraud cases and on a common format for the exchange
of relevant information.
