"United States paradise for credit card fraud"

The United States is a paradise for credit card fraud, according to a report from the Barclays bank. Almost half of the credit card fraud worldwide takes place in the US, even though the the US is responsible for 24% of all credit card transactions. According to the researchers this is mainly caused by the fact that the US still relies on "old, faulty technology"  that the rest of the world moved on from years ago.

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In the United States creditcards still use a magnetic strip which can be easily copied. Hackers also infect checkout terminals with malware which allows cybercriminals to steal credit card data. In many other countries credit cards work with an EMV chip that makes this kind of fraud harder. These credit cards also require a PIN code for each transaction. When the United Kingdom moved to EMV chip based credit cards, fraud dropped with 70%.

Nevertheless it should also become less easy for criminals in the US to commit credit card fraud. Some retail chains have started to move to EMV technology and by the end of this year all stores are obliged by credit card companies to accept EMV cards.

Unfortunately most Americans still have an old card with magnetic strip which means credit card fraud will continue to be an issue.

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