Brighton has been crowned the card fraud capital of Britain, up from 10th the previous year, with 38 per cent of people in the city having their details used by fraudsters at some point.
The annual study by life assistance company CCP shows card fraud costs the UK £440m a year. London, previously top, came second with 34 per cent, while Manchester was third with 33 per cent.
There were also above-average instances of people falling victim to credit and debit card fraud in Leeds, Bristol, Edinburgh and Southampton.
The CPP Card Fraud Index estimates that around 13 million Brits have now been affected by card fraud. Around 28 per cent of people said their credit or debit card had been used by fraudsters at some point, 7 per cent of whom had been victims during the past 12 months.
But the number of people affected during 2010 was slightly down on the 10 per cent who were victims in 2009.
Sarah Blaney, card fraud expert at CPP, said: “In 2010 we saw a 3 per cent decrease in card fraud incidents in the UK compared to the previous year. This in itself is good news and shows how progress is being made to reduce the number of victims. In particular, online fraud has decreased, which could be a result of industry initiatives such as Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode. However, consumers still need to remain vigilant and not let their guard down.”
Victims of card fraud reported the average amount stolen was £417 with 4 per cent claiming losses of more than £2,000. One in five people said they have had the magnetic strip on their card cloned at an ATM or chip and pin machine. The same proportion said fraudsters had obtained their card details 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. Around 18 per cent said they never checked an ATM to see if it had been tampered with, while 17 per cent said they did not shield their fingers when keying in their pin.
