Last year alone fraud cost the UK credit card business over £1billion – and it is estimated that identity theft accounted for approximately 10% of that sum!

To try and counter this huge loss, credit card companies have been coming up with ever more innovative and technologically sophisticated cards. Notwithstanding this action on the part of the credit card providers, we will still have a huge level of credit card fraud simply because we are careless when it comes to protecting our identity.

The following are the top 10 ways UK households become the victims of identity theft:

1. you put mail in the bin (without shredding it) that contains your name and address details;
2. you give details of your bank account, credit card, address and your name to cold-callers on the telephone;
3. you allow the person behind you at an ATM to see you enter your PIN;
4. you put your bank statements in the bin (un-shredded);
5. you answer emails asking for your name, credit card number and bank account details;
6. you do not telephone your bank or credit card provider if your statement is late;
7. you keep your PIN details in the wallet that has your credit card;
8. you don’t check your credit card or bank statement to see if any strange transactions have been processed;
9. you let the cashier at a retail outlet, shop or restaurant take your credit card away from you and out of view;
10. if you are using a carbon-copy transaction machine, you don’t take the carbon copy with you.

None of the above are particular ingenious – they are all opportunist identity thefts. So, if you want to help reduce identity theft and credit card fraud, try and take better care of your identity in the future!

If you are unsure of how you should proceed in the future to protect your identity and not become the victim of a fraudster, the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS), the Finance & Leasing Association and the UK’s fraud prevention service, the CIFAS, have published the Identity Fraud - UK Manual.

In the unfortunate event that you are the victim of identity theft, don’t forget to report this to the police, your bank, and all of your credit card companies as soon as you become aware of it so that you can minimise both your and their losses. In this regard, it is good practice to ensure you have a photocopy of your credit cards so that you can provide the details without having to look at your latest credit card statement.