Southampton Among Worst For Credit Card Fraud

19 January 2011, 10:24 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

It came 7th in a list of the places where most people say they’ve been targeted, with 29% having their details used.

Brighton and London were top of the list, with more than a third of people there saying their cards had been used by someone else. Nationally, 13 million of us have been scammed at least once, mostly online or at cash machines.

Researchers spoke to over 2,000 people and around 28% of people asked said their credit or debit card had been used by fraudsters at some point. 7% said they had been victims of the crime during the past 12 months. But the number of people who were affected during 2010 was slightly down on the 10% who were victims in 2009.

Most victims of card fraud said their details were taken at a cash machine or through the internet.

The research also found that many people were putting themselves at risk of card fraud by failing to take simple measures to protect themselves, with 18% of people saying they never checked a cash machine see if it had been tampered with, while 17% said they did not shield their fingers when keying in their pin.

A further 16% of consumers also said they had let their card out of their sight in shops and restaurants. People also take an average of eight hours to report a lost or stolen card.