Police are reminding people to take care of their credit and debit cards to avoid becoming victims of fraud.
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The Mercury reported yesterday that a woman lost her credit card while shopping at Rutherford on Saturday night.
Within one hour, $150 had been used from the card on a gambling website.
The NSW government scrapped the option for customers to sign for purchases with Australian-issued credit cards, with personal identification numbers required instead from August 1.
But tap-and-go facilities that allow a shopper to scan their credit card on an EFTPOS machine to purchase an item under $100 do not require PIN numbers.
Central Hunter crime manager Detective Inspector John Zdrilic said while there had not been a spike in credit card thefts in Maitland, the introduction of Pay Wave and other tap-and-go facilities made credit card fraud easier.
Inspector Zdrilic said that there had been an increase in reports of credit card fraud involving small transactions in the Hunter since tap-and-go facilities were introduced.
“Know where your credit cards are,” he said.
“And if they go missing, get onto it quickly.”
Anyone who suspects their credit card is lost or has been stolen should immediately contact the financial institution that supplied the card.