Debit card fraud on the rise
According to a published report, debit card fraud is up from 27 percent of all card fraud in 2009 to 36 percent in 2010. The Javelin Strategy & Research’s 2011 Identity Fraud Survey Report cited said about 1.4 percent of consumers get hit by debit card fraud every year.
Different from identity theft, debit fraud occurs when information is taken from the magnetic strip on the card and is used to make unauthorized transactions, said Doug Johnson, vice president of risk management policy for the American Bankers Association.
Unlike a credit card, access to the debit card allows the perpetrator direct assess to the victim’s account.
“That’s why it’s more serious in most customers’ minds than credit card theft,” Johnson said.