There is an entire criminal industry focused on obtaining personal and card data which is then used to access fraudulent funds. This is card fraud, also commonly referred to as ‘Plastic Fraud’. It involves the compromise of any personal information from credit, debit, or store cards as well as the physical theft of a card.

Fraudsters will then use this information to purchase goods in your name or obtain unauthorised funds from an account.

Plastic card fraud can also include counterfeit card fraud and ‘card not present’ fraud, such as the use of a card online, over the phone or by mail order.

Cards could also be abused internally if employees purchase personal goods using the company card, this is known as internal fraud.

What to look out for:

• New cards ordered but not approved by a mandated requestor within your company
• Genuine cards ordered but not received after a few weeks which could indicate card interception
• Concerns that you may have been a victim of Phishing, Vishing and SMShing where fraudsters will contact you via text, email or telephone posing as someone from a legitimate organisation. You may have been deceived into providing sensitive data such as banking details, passwords and personal data such as DOB, address etc
• When making a payment you see pop up asking you to click on a link that appears out of character, this could indicate that your computer has been infected with malware

Top tips to reduce the risk of being a victim of card fraud:

When online:

• Only transact on websites with 'https' in the address bar; the 's' means the webpage is secure
• Only enter your card details on a webpage if you see a padlock symbol in your browser. This is another sign that the site is secure

In person:

• Never write down your PIN
• Never share your card/PIN with anyone including via email or pictures
• Only provide your card details via telephone to trusted suppliers/individuals

Card admin:

• Regularly reconcile statements for cards to make sure there are no unauthorised transactions
• Ensure you have assigned credit or transaction limits for dedicated card holders within your business
• Cancel cards for any employees no longer with the business and review the requirement for current employees to have cards if they do not use them
• Never share your card with others and if there is a need for additional cards then these requests should be submitted to SVB as normal

If you believe you have already been the victim of card fraud, please contact us immediately on our UK Card Services line 0800 023 1062 or +44 (020) 7367 7852 if calling from outside the UK (24 hours a day).