Memory loss increasing risk of credit card fraud

An alarming number of Britons are being bamboozled by Chip and Pin machines - because they can’t remember their credit and debit card Pin numbers.

A survey by Abbey Current Accounts found that 22 million credit and debit card owners (55 per cent) have forgotten their Pin in the recent past - with 16 million (39 per cent) admitting they write their Pin numbers down on a piece of paper in order to avoid embarrassment in the future.

Alarmingly, 2.4 million people in the UK keep this piece of paper in their wallets - leading Steve Shore, head of banking at Abbey, to warn of a security breach.

"With many of us holding more and more pieces of plastic in our wallets the challenge of remembering all those Pin codes is getting greater," he commented.

"But we really do urge you to try and commit them to memory rather than write them down - otherwise it’s like signing a blank cheque for fraudsters.

"Also, remember that if your cards are lost or stolen, you must report this immediately."

It was also discovered that 5.7 million people use the same Pin number for more than one card - heightening the risk of fraud.