Technology drives card fraud

Police are facing a growing number of fraudulent shopping sprees stemming from criminals getting their hands on stolen or lost credit cards and taking advantage of “tap and go” technology.

The payWave and PayPass cards which enable purchases up to $100 without a PIN, were highly sought after by criminals, according to Albany police, who are investigating at least one spree per fortnight.

Last week police arrested and charged two women with fraud offences for allegedly racking up seven transactions totalling more than $300.

Another offender was convicted last year on 36 fraud charges from a fraudulent spree of close to $3000.

The crime trend has prompted police to remind business owners and card holders to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity.

The correlation between theft and fraud offences can be seen in police statistics in the past 12 months.

While there are no police statistics on specific credit card fraud, from January to April a total of 127 fraud offences were committed in the Great Southern police district including a spike of 48 in April alone.

Almost 600 theft offences were recorded in the same period.

Albany police Sergeant Dean Bristow said while officers had experienced recent success through the use of social media to help identify offenders, police were continually faced with the problem.

“It has definitely increased the amount of bulk frauds,” Sgt Bristow said.

“We would spend more time investigating credit card fraud than we did previously before Paypass.

“About 75 per cent of the time people have misplaced their card and by the time they realise it, they have had a certain number of transactions racked up on it.

“You get five or six transactions when someone loses or has their card stolen.”

“It’s the businesses which also lose out because the people get paid back.”

Sgt Bristow said businesses should be on the look out for people making multiple transactions under $100 and if there is suspicion ask for additional identification.

He said the use of CCTV in retail outlets, social media and local police knowledge of criminals increased the risk of being caught.

“We look and we know and we lock them up,” Sgt Bristow said.

“There is more chance of being locked up here.

“Now with the use of social media increases our chances of identifying these people.”

WA Police advise cardholders to always watch their wallet or purse and never leave them in the car and never leave their cards unsecure at home.