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By Mark Lewin Staff Writer
Friday, 24 July 2009
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Money News Roundup
If you only do one thing with your money this week...
Help prevent identity theft and credit card fraud, by:
- Never write down your PIN number.
- Use a different PIN number for each card you hold.
- Register with Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode for safer online shopping.
- Don't be fooled by phishing scams: never give out your details in an email and always browse to your bank's website: don't go via a link from an email.
- Shred any unwanted credit card applications sent through the post.
- Protect your computer with anti-virus software, such as AVG free (free.avg.com) and keep it updated.
- While registering for an alert service can carry a small monthly subscription charge, keeping an eye on your credit report can help to spot identity theft quicker and get things remedied faster.
Previous Money News Roundups
See our other recent Money News Roundups and other related news stories:
Money News Roundup (17 Jul 09)
Find out when bills cost you £1million, the proposed 90% tax on city bonuses and how babies can help you to keep your wallet.
Money News Roundup (10 Jul 09)
Find out why Barclays objects to changes to PPI, how a fine for E.ON has mades no change for consumers and why Brits are in denial over savings.
Money News Roundup (03 Jul 09)
Find out what a credit card crackdown actually involves, who thinks energy bills aren't high enough and why everyone’s paying off their mortgage.
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The ongoing battle against fraud, pricey wine, rises in the cost of holiday booking by card and an interesting car insurance poll in this week's money.
Are Credit Card Companies Losing the Battle Against Fraud?
DESPITE the relatively recent introduction of chip and pin devices, credit card fraud continues to increase - up by a whopping 43% in the last two years. This is primarily because more than 75% of all offences occur where this technology affords no protection, such as purchases made on the Internet, via telephone or by mail order.
The British Crime Survey, which generates statistics for card fraud and other criminal activity based on a poll of 40,000 households, has demonstrated that there were 2.8m fraudulent card transactions last year, up 4% from 2007 and the proportion of card holders affected has risen from 3.7% to 6.4% in the last three years.
The worsening recession appears to be partly to blame for this massive increase.
Wine Prices Defy Deflation
THE price of a bottle of wine has risen by up to 44p per bottle over the past year, according to figures released recently.
The biggest rises have been noticed in high street off-licenses with an average bottle of wine costing an average of £5.38. This is still markedly cheaper than the same bottle in a supermarket - £1.12 cheaper in fact - but even supermarket prices have risen by around 18p since this time last year.
This 18p increase is almost twice that of previous years when the cost of a bottle of wine increased by around 10p, according to trade journal Off Licence News.
It is claimed that these increases are mainly due to excessive hikes in government taxes on alcohol.
Costs of Booking Holidays By Credit and Debit Cards Soar
YOU might find cheaper wine abroad, but you'll probably have to pay more to get there, according to consumer group Which?
They have found that the cost of booking flights by debit or credit cards has rocketed over the past 18 months by up to a jaw-dropping 614%.
Ryanair has imposed the biggest increases, with fees rising from 70p to £5 per person each way for debit cards and £2 to £5 for credit cards. They protest that no charge is levied for Visa Electron bookings, but these are uncommon and rarely accepted overseas.
Wizz increased their booking fees from 70p to £4 per person, a 471% increase and operators such as Thomas Cook UK and First Choice which never used to make any charge have now introduced them, at £10 and £2.50 respectively for debit card bookings.
Aviva Tells You What Type of Driver You Are
DO your driving habits make you a 'steady Eddie', a 'realist', a 'racer' or a 'snail'? Insurance firm Aviva would be happy to tell you!
Following an exhaustive survey of drivers, Aviva claim that 'realists' are motorists who aren't generally likely to behave badly on the roads, but who aren't averse to taking the odd risk here and there.
'Racers', as you might guess, habitually break the speed limit and overtake at the first opportunity.
'Steady Eddies' keep a close eye on the speed limit and rarely do anything rash, while 'snails' are ultra-careful, even to the point of annoying other motorists with their slow pace.
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