UK is the third country at most risk of credit card fraud

The United Kingdom is the third country most at risk of credit card fraud a new study by Merchant Machine has revealed.

The research found that Ireland, France and the United Kingdom are in the top three countries most at risk of credit card fraud, with Ireland and Greece highlighting the highest percentages of increase in cybercrime between 2002 and 2018.

The study looked at the countries most at risk of credit card fraud, by analysing different metrics, including the Google Search volume of words related to cybercrime, the number and value of frauds in each individual country and the percentage increase in frauds from 2002 to 2018.

Merchant Money said that It is clear that Ireland is the European country most at risk of cybercrime, with a Fraud Risk Index of 7.44 and a fraud value of €7,949 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2018. The search volume for keywords relating to cybercrime is also high, resulting in an average of 2,520 searches per month over the past year, as seen on the table in the end.

The UK ranks third amongst the countries most at risk of cybercrimes, with a Fraud Risk Index of 6.82 and the highest fraud value per 1,000 inhabitants (10,414).

The study also analysed the percentage of growth in fraud between 2002 and 2018. Ireland is still on top of the ranking, showing a percentage increase of 22,522% over those 16 years Although France ranks second amongst the countries most at risk of cybercrime, in this ranking is replaced by Greece, which shows an incredibly high percentage increase in frauds of 22,372%.

Luxembourg ranks third, with a fraud value of €5,919 per 1,000 inhabitants, an average of 40 frauds per 1,000 inhabitants and an increase in frauds of 10,344% between 2002 and 2018.

Ian Wright, CEO and founder of Merchant Machine said “Although using credit cards is generally safer than using cash for money transactions, there are a few precautions card users should be aware of when using credit cards or managing e-money.’”

“A good way to protect yourself from fraud is to secure all your online and offline data by hiding passwords and shredding documents containing confidential information. Checking your statements is another good way to keep track of each payment and identify any possible scams.”

The countries most at risk of cybercrime