Credit cards stolen from post

CRIMINALS are stealing thousands of credit and debit cards from the post, driving up fraud by 50% in a year.

The gangs' spree comes as a more secure card system is about to take effect.

Unpublished industry figures show that fraud due to cards stolen from the mail rose by 51% to £61.2m in the year to June 2004.

That contributed to an 18% increase in all card fraud, to £478.8m.

Companies are in the throes of sending out 130m new cards to customers specifically to crack down on fraud.

They carry a computer chip which combined with the customer's Pin, entered on a pad by the till, should prevent abuse.

The system is already widely available, but banks and credit card companies are pushing all shops to use 'Chip and Pin' by the beginning of next year.

In the meantime the new cards can be used with a signature, as before.

However, most providers are not sending the new cards by secure courier, despite recent studies and undercover investigations that have highlighted 14m items of mail going missing a year, some stolen.

A spokeswoman for industry body the Association of Payment Clearing Services admitted theft from the post was an issue. She said the industry was liaising with Royal Mail to ensure security.

'There is a feeling there is a concerted effort among criminals to make a fast buck while they can,' she said.

While banks believed the post remained the best way to deliver most cards, there were options where problems arose, she added.

They could courier deliveries or arrange for a card to be picked up from a branch, she said.