Cardholders lax about security

Not enough care is being taken by cardholders to make sure that debit and credit card transactions are secure, a new survey has claimed.

According to research by consumer association Which?, a study of 4,000 cardholders found that half use the same PIN for all their cards.

Over half had chosen their mother’s maiden name for their security password.

A further half of respondents in the survey admitted that they did not bother to find out if a website was secure before making purchases from it. One in seven even admitted writing down PINs and passwords.

This was despite the fact that a third of those surveyed said that they had had money fraudulently taken from their credit card or bank account.

Martyn Hocking, Which? Money editor, said: “There’s a lot more people can do to prevent fraud occurring. Shredding documents and checking your bank statements are a good start, but people need to be wise to basic fraud risks such as using their mother’s maiden name as a password, or shopping on websites that aren’t secure. By taking a few basic precautions, people can significantly reduce the risk of fraud.”