Rising cybercrime leaves 5 million UK adults cancelling cards, finds comparethemarket.com

calendar iconDec 5, 2017

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In 2017, one in 10 UK adults found themselves falling victim to cybercrime, according to recent research by comparethemarket.com.

As technology advances, the risks that go along with technology dependence do as well. Approximately 5 million UK card users have had to cancel their cards this year alone. Facing a new generation of cyber fraud criminals, card users need to get cyber-savvy and learn to protect themselves. Step one: Keep a backup cash stash. Step two: Update all your passwords...regularly.

Excerpt from comparethemarket.com article:

In a survey of 2,000 adults, comparethemarket.com found that not only are accounts being hacked, but significant amounts of money are also being successfully stolen in many cases. Of the 37% of people who had money stolen from their accounts, £544 was taken on average. Based on these findings, comparethemarket.com estimates that over £1 billion has been stolen as a direct result of credit or debit card fraud in the last year.

Despite having a lot of money stolen from their accounts, only 12% of people who were hacked in the last 12 months have changed their debit or credit card provider, whilst over two thirds (68%) have not considered, or have no intention of changing accounts.

“These findings are really shocking. The scale of the cybercrime problem is huge, in terms of both the number of people defrauded and the amount of money stolen. With Black Friday Cyber Monday upon us, this time of year could be seen as the perfect opportunity for online criminals..."
"Shakila HashmiHead of Moneycomparethemarket.com
  • Over £1 billion has been stolen from accounts due to credit and debit card fraud in the last 12 months
  • In over a third of cases (36%) the bank did not alert the fraud victim to suspicious activity at the time of the attack
  • Despite being defrauded, nearly 90% of victims have not switched bank accounts as a result
  • Over half (51%) of fraud victims agree the government is not doing enough to protect consumers from cybercrime

Catch up: Watch Financial Times' video on cybercrime Claims that going cashless would reduce crime are once again put to bed by none other than the Financial Times' chief economics commentator Martin Wolf in an insightful video.

From research by comparethemarket.com published November 29, 2017

From research by comparethemarket.com published November 29, 2017

Source

Staff writer. "Five million UK adults have cancelled credit or debit cards in the last year due to attempted fraud". comparethemarket.com. Electronically published November 29, 2017. Accessed December 2, 2017.

Update: 2020 Figures from comparethemarket.com.

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Last Updated: Oct 25, 2021