The frauds related to debit and credit cards in the United States are on the rise. One of the recent surveys have revealed that over 33% of the card holders in the country have reported charges of fraud related to credit and debit cards. This increase in fraud can be attributed to the outdated card technology being using in the US which have fewer security measures as compared to the technology adopted by many other countries in Europe.

Consumer Reports’ Andrea Rock says that it is not surprising the consumers in the United States are easy victims of card related fraud. This is because of the outdated technology that we continue to use in this country that lacks the required security measures. She went on to say that the information that Americans needed to complete their online or offline transactions on their card in stored on the magnetic tape of the card in the unencrypted form making it susceptible to fraud. This stored information can be easily stolen and transferred on to another duplicate card.

Rock also said that fraudsters preferred stealing information from debit cards as compared to credit cards because these cards can be easily used to draw cash from the nearest ATM instead of using it for paying for various purchases at stores.

Countries in Europe have safer debit and credit cards since they have switched over the “chip and pin” technology that is safer and provides for data encryption. A unique identifying code for each transaction further strengthens the security measures on these cards.