November 6, 2009
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News: UK Postal Strike Cause For Concern
A postal strike in the UK has some credit card concerned that criminals may use it as an opportunity to expand their criminal activities. According to CreditExpert.com, a credit reporting provider, the strike could lead to confusion for credit card customers who do not receive their card statements in a timely fashion. There is also concern that thieves may intercept renewal cards and statements to aid them in conducting illegal transactions. If stolen, criminals can use the personal information included in credit card statements to cap out customers' accounts and open up new illegal accounts. If a thieve does intercept the statement or card and the cardholder assumes it has not arrived because of the postal strike, they may not realize a thief has stolen it and changed the mailing address.
A spokesperson for CreditExpert, Darryl Bowman, believes that credit card customers could assume their statement hasn't arrived because of the strike and fail to report it to their lender. Bowman cautions any cardholder that has not received their statement to check with their lender. They should also sign up for online service and examine their account activity closely. Credit card fraud is a growing problem in the UK as it is across the globe. CreditExpert's studies indicate that identify and card fraud have increased by 206 percent just since the first of the year.
The postal strike stems from a dispute with the Royal Mail, the national postal service of the United Kingdom, and its plans to embrace new technology. The strike which began in October has caused widespread mail delivery delays and is not expected to end anytime soon. According to the postal workers union, Communication Workers Union (CWU), negotiations have been suspended until after the holiday and would not resume until next year. Meanwhile a temporary deal between the two groups will guarantee that holiday mail and other important documents like credit card statements would be delivered on time.