CREDIT CARD FRAUD: Losses could hit Bt400m

BANGKOK: -- Credit card fraud has in-creased significantly in Thailand this year with losses expected to double last year’s figure of Bt200 million, the managing director of Krungsriayudhya Card said yesterday.

Sukdee Chongmankhong, who is also president of the Credit Card Club, said the sharp increase in fraud could be blamed on the influx of foreign fraud gangs, particularly from Malaysia.

In the first quarter of this year, Thailand lost around Bt100 million to credit card fraud, up 10-15 per cent from last year.

According to data from the Bank of Thailand, total credit card accounts stood at 8.02 million, up 32.3 per cent year on year. The outstanding credit card loans amounted to Bt130.59 billion, an increase of 29.7 per cent over last year.

The absence of criminal penalties governing credit card fraud and chip cards in Thailand is the main cause of the problem, he said.

Most Asia Pacific countries and territories, including Japan, Malaysia, Korea and Taiwan, have changed from magnetic credit cards to the more advanced chip cards.

“A draft law covering credit card fraud is currently under scrutiny in Parliament. Cases of fraud will continue to rise without implementation of the draft,” he said.

Twatchai Yongkittikul, secretary-general of the Thai Bankers Association, said Thailand officially became the Asia Pacific country with the most fraud cases when Malaysia enforced penalties for credit card fraud and changed to chip cards.

At the same time, Visa International said it would encourage Thai credit card issuers to switch to chip cards by January 2006 to prevent card fraud.

Krung Thai Card (KTC), the country’s largest credit card issuer in terms of card numbers, is expected to make the first move with plans to change 100,000 cards in a pilot project next year.

The first 100,000 cards will be issued to the highest spenders.

--The Nation 2004-09-22

There's another "hub" to add to the growing list.........the Asian Pacific credit card fraud hub. One to be proud of, even if it is all down to those pesky Malaysian gangs.

All my cards have chips.

I have yet to see a machine here that uses it.

All my cards have chips.

I have yet to see a machine here that uses it.

Tried the fish shop?

Neither Visa nor Mastercard have really got their act together on the chip front, however you probably would not notice an ATM machine using the chip as it is pretty much transparent to the customer. You would notice in a shop/restaurant where the POS device would not print a receipt for you to sign but would require you to enter your PIN, and the chip itself would probably authorise the transaction so the response would be much quicker.

Clever things, those little chips on your cards.

The Elite Card has lost more.

"Sukdee Chongmankhong, who is also president of the Credit Card Club, said the sharp increase in fraud could be blamed on the influx of foreign fraud gangs, particularly from Malaysia."

Another case of Foreigners giving Thailand a bad name.

LOL

Reviving the dead are we? This thread is from 2004!

And the fraud is still increasing...