Victoria Police are blaming Tap and Go credit cards for the increase in crime during the past year. According to police statistics, the number of deceptions (including when thieves fraudulently used other people’s credit cards) increased by 11,600, leading to an overall 5% jump in the state’s crime rates.
Speaking on 774 ABC Melbourne, Victoria’s Chief Commissioner Ken Lay said, “One of the main drivers over the last little while have been deceptions and these Tap and Go cards.”
“We’re seeing many, many theft of motor cars, handbags and burglaries where people are looking for these cards, are getting hold of them and within hours of getting them, they’re going into stores and using them.
“So you’re getting this flow-on effect… mainly because of these types of offences.”
Lay said he regretted the introduction of Tap and Go credit cards (also known as contactless credit cards or EMV cards – Europay, MasterCard, Visa), saying the police were not consulted before they were introduced to the public.
“They are chewing up an enormous amount of police resources,” he said.
Call on banks to do more
Victorian Police Minister Kim Wells called on banks and credit card providers to do more to protect cardholders, and to prevent cards from being misused.
“The frustration from a policing and government point of view is that the banks bring out new technology that you can tap-and-go, but the reality is someone can find these cards… and go on a spending spree and keep their spending to less than $100,” Wells said.
“The banks simply need to do more to crack down on this. This is simply not good enough.”
He said it wasn’t good enough that banks simply promised to cover any fraudulent transactions, and that more should be done to prevent the problem from happening in the first place.
“That someone can just pick up a credit card and not have to worry about a PIN, not have to worry about a signature, can just tap and then go, and… rack up $99 worth of expenditure… is just frustrating from a police and government point of view,” Wells said.
Deputy Commissioner Lucinda Nolan also had something to say on the matter. “From a personal perspective, I’d like to see them scrapped,” she said.
“I do understand that there are business models, but surely there are more security measures that can be brought in.”
Flow-on effects
According to Victoria Police crime statistics, overall crime in the state is up 5% on last year. The numbers show that drug offences are up 15.5%, crime against the person is up 0.7%, and theft from a motor vehicle is up 3.4%. Meanwhile, robbery is down 12.7%, and assault is down 2.5%.
Statistics also show that there has been a 45% increase in crimes of deception. Nolan noted that while most deception offences were committed by adults, police had seen a “disproportionate increase” in children aged 10 to 15 years committing such crimes.
“We haven’t seen that before,” she said. “It’s easy to steal a credit card from a mail box, immediately go to a retail outlet, and make multiple low-value transactions.”
Nolan said it was believed by police that rises in car and home burglaries were linked to contactless credit cards.
“Credit cards are being stolen from cars, they’re being stolen from houses and they’re being stolen from mailboxes,” she said. “Quite often these offences are occurring overnight so those cards are being used even before the victim has actually woken up.”
Credit card companies deny there is a problem
While Victoria Police seem adamant Tap and Go should go, credit card providers deny there is a problem.
MasterCard said, “We view the issue of fraud and security very seriously, and are committed to providing consumers with safest methods of payment available.”
“Since the introduction of chip-enabled cards and contactless technology, MasterCard data in addition to industry data reveals no increase in fraud specifically relating to contactless technology.
“We have met and held several discussions with the Victorian Police Fraud Squad since they first raised this issue publicly a few months ago.
“As both MasterCard and industry data reveals no increase in fraud specifically relating to contactless technology, we have asked Victorian Police to clarify the source and nature of their crime statistics relating to contactless fraud.”
NAB also had something to say. “NAB’s real-time fraud detection system alerts our fraud prevention team to suspicious activity on customer accounts within seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” a NAB spokesman said.
“Contactless payment technology offers a high standard of security and multiple layers of protection.
“Our customers trust us to keep their money safe and if a fraud is ever committed on their accounts, we will refund them 100%.”
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