As we try to get to grips with the new Chip and Pin system, a system that has been brought in to save us in some capacity from falling victim of credit card fraud, a worrying piece of news has come out, that the credit card group the MBNA has distributed many of its UK customers cards to the wrong address.

This has come at a time when the crooks who have been skimming millions of pounds from our for years, are looking for ways to keep themselves in the lifestyle that they have become accustomed to. With this introduction of the chip and Pin method they have already found a way in for the time being, as the replacement cards that are being sent to many customers, are being intercepted in there thousands before they reach the mailing address, this has resulted in a up-surged in credit card fraud as the crooks see a chink of light in the new armoury.

The amount of fraud that is being committed by cards that don’t reach their intended destination is rising fast, and cost the industry in the region of £43.5 million in the year 2003 alone, and with crooks turning to this the chances of this getting higher is always there, and things like this happening doesn’t allay peoples fear of being a victim of this type of crime.

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MBNA the American owned distributors of the cards, are trying to relay the fears of there customers, have said that they are “doing everything that they can to resolve the situation” and has reassured the card holders that any fraud that was committed using any of the misplaced cards would be met fully by them, though the chances of any wrong doing was almost non existent.

MBNA have admitted that the problem has arisen, though the scale of it in numbers is in the low three figure mark and is not being seen as a massive or alarming in the over all scheme of things, as those who have had their cards sent to the wrong address, have been issued with new cards and accounts and had their previous ones closed. With Pin’s sent out separately from the actual cards themselves, there was no chance of the cards being able to be used, and the mailing mistake did not apply to the four digit numbers.

A full apology was made to it’s customers by MBNA, who accept that though it was a one off situation that it found its self in and the scale of the mistake was small, they understand that to the customers that were inconvenienced it was a “very serious matter.” Lets hope it was a isolated incident and MBNA don’t let this happen again as the peoples trust in have just begun to come back and mistakes like these could make a less attractive option on the way that we pay for our purchases.