Fraud nation: The numbers behind credit card fraud
Americans fell victim to a reported $1.9 billion in fraud losses in 2019, with more than 270,000 cases reported specifically due to credit card fraud.
American adults have seemingly had a consistent amount of credit card fraud victimization, according to a January 2021 survey from Finder. An estimated 15% of American adults who own at least one credit card — roughly 37.2 million Americans — report they’ve been on the wrong end of fraudulent transactions at least once, an increase of 4.4%. Even more alarming is how much criminals made off with through this fraud.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans reported losing an estimated $1.9 billion to fraud in 2019. Over 270,000 of the 1.7 million cases reported were due to credit card fraud, a 72.35% increase in credit card fraud cases from the previous year.
Who’s the easiest target?
A gender fraud gap exists in America, with almost 21.8 million men (18%) admitting to falling victim to credit card fraud at least once in their life compared to nearly 15.3 million women (11%).
Finder survey data reveals that 11.4 million (19%) in gen X admit to falling victim to credit card fraud. Following gen X is 10.8 million millennials (16.3%) and 9.7 million baby boomers (12.4%) who report the same. Only 11.4% of gen Z (3.0 million) say they’ve fallen prey to credit card fraud (2.3 million), followed by 9.14% of the silent generation.
Generation
% of victims of credit card fraud
Number of credit card fraud victims
Gen Z
11.41%
2,993,971
Millennials
16.34%
10,835,323
GenX
19.23%
11,405,603
Baby Boomers
12.36%
9,694,763
Silent generation
9.14%
2,281,121
The more you earn, the more you burn
The likelihood of becoming a victim of credit card fraud increases along with income levels. According to our survey, 10.1% of adults with annual incomes of less than $20,000 say they have been a victim of credit card fraud. In comparison, 31.9% of adults who earn more than $120,000 annually say the same. It suggests that adults with the highest income level in our survey are 3.17 times more likely to become a victim of credit card fraud than adults in the lowest income level.
Given how fast the world turns, consumers need to stay on top of who’s charging us and for what. Fortunately, we can assume that banks and other financial institutions are more vigilant than ever about monitoring fraud: 60% of Americans surveyed learned their accounts had been compromised after their bank reached out directly.
Although the most common way credit card victims are notified about fraud is by phone call (37%), 15% say they found out through an email alert from their bank, and 8% found out through a text notification from their bank. Another 6% were clued into a problem at the register, where they saw “declined” after swiping, while 30% discovered a fraudulent charge after diligently checking their statements.
We can analyze these insights in two ways:
It’s encouraging that more than a quarter of those surveyed were vigilant enough with their finances to catch errant charges.
It’s unbelievable that more than 50% of Americans needed a third party to learn something was awry.
Either way, we all need to do more to protect our finances both on and offline.
How did you find out your credit card was compromised?
% victims of credit card fraud
Number of credit card fraud victims
A phone call from my bank
36.78%
13,686,724
A email from my bank
14.94%
5,560,232
A text from my bank
8.43%
3,136,541
I found out myself by checking my statements and finding fraudulent charges
29.50%
10,977,893
My credit card was declined when I tried to use it
6.13%
2,281,121
Other
4.21%
1,568,270
Top 5 states with the highest instance of credit card fraud
The best way to minimize the chance of becoming a victim of fraud is by keeping your sensitive personal and financial information safe from would-be criminals.
Online
Phishing and other cybercrime are easy ways to part you from your money. Online scammers are becoming only more sophisticated, using increasingly elaborate schemes to trick you into revealing your personal and financial details. Learn how to protect your credit card information when shopping online, starting with checking the site you’re on is secure.
Phishing scams and malware. These scams typically involve email that looks like it’s from a reputable company — but is in fact designed to intercept your credit card number or password. Clicking, sharing or opening what the fraudsters are pedaling can unleash viruses, trackers or other malware on your device.
What can you do? Do not click links in an email, verify your personal data or download an attachment without first confirming the request is from a legitimate source. Know that no lawful bank, retailer or provider will ask you to confirm personal information online. If in doubt, call the institution it appears to be from to confirm the communication.
Online shopping. Shopping online is part and parcel of living in the 21st century. But just as you wouldn’t swipe your card at a sketchy storefront, don’t enter your details into an unsecure site. Avoid falling prey to scammers looking to leverage the anonymity of the Internet to rip you off. IRL applies here too: If it sounds too good to be true, it just might be.
What can you do? Be wary of any deal that asks for upfront deposits or specific payment methods, like wire transfers or money orders. Confirm that you’re on an encrypted site by looking for “https” at the start of the URL. And search the Internet to see what others say about the site.
Take extra precautions with a credit card that offers customer protection, like Verified by Visa, Mastercard SecureCode and American Express Safekey. Simply enter a one-time SMS or email code with each purchase online.
Offline
Keep an eye out for traditional fraud in the analog world.
Dumpster diving. Yep, people may be digging through your garbage to find more than recyclable cans and bottles. Rather, they’re after details you toss away that can help them steal your identity.
What can you do? Never throw out documents that contain your personal information without making some effort to tear them up or run them through a shredder. Better yet, cancel as many paper bills or statements as you can, opting for e-statements instead.
Stolen or lost cards. There’s no easier way for a thief to make fraudulent charges than with your actual card in their possession.
What can you do? Whether you think you’ve left your card behind at the bar or your wallet’s gone missing, act fast. Call the last location you remember having it to ask if somebody’s found it. If not, contact your bank to cancel your card.
Beware the skimmers. These tricky little card readers can be hard to spot, but scammers have attached them to ATMs, gas pumps and other devices requiring your card for payments or cash.
What can you do? Before inserting your card into a reader, jiggle or shake it to make sure it’s firmly attached. Learn how skimmers work, and if a card reader looks suspect, don’t use it. If you think your info might’ve been skimmed, notify your bank first and then alert the FTC to submit a fraud alert.
It (credit card fraud) is now not a matter of if will happen to you, but when. It is safe to use your credit cards but you do need to check your statements as they come in. Only you know what you charged so take the few minutes to review them each month.
We used to feel safe shredding our mail but in this time in our lives we have to do more than that because of information we give out. We give out social security number, date of birth at medical offices, cell phone plans, insurance, obtaining loans and credit cards and so many other places. So, instead of living in fear just be proactive to check your credit reports, bank statements and credit card statements.
Janice Lintz
Consumer Advocate & Freelance Writer
In my opinion, I have found it (credit card fraud) is on the rise. The consumer is not responsible for the fraud (though). The banks and companies are on the hook. But I go through every single charge on my credit cards and bank statements. It is tedious, but I regularly catch issues. There is no alternative to reconciling your accounts.
To make the process easier, I pdf receipts as I charge using the Adobe app on my phone and immediately email them to myself. When I arrive at the hotel, I drag and drop the receipts into a folder for each credit card. Reviewing statements is easy since the revenues are all in chronological order and ready if I need any for my taxes.
Roberto Siciliano CSP
Security Awareness Expert and CEO Safr.Me
Credit card companies are not good at disclosing their failings. However due to the amount of data breaches that have occurred over the past couple of years, it seems likely credit card fraud is on the rise. It’s never been safe to use credit cards, however with the zero liability policies that most card companies have in place, the liability isn’t in the hands of the consumer, as long as they are paying attention to their statements and refuting unauthorized transactions.
When making charges online, it is important that the users device is updated with security software and whenever entering card data into a website make sure in the address bar it says HTTPs which designate a secure site. Besides that , there’s nothing more a consumer can do to proactively prevent card fraud. The best course of action is to closely monitor card statements making sure that all charges have been authorized, and the best way to do that is to set up “push notifications” where a consumer gets text messages and or emails in real-time.
Christina Lavingia
Content Marketing Manager PayJunction
Merchants can do a lot to help consumers reduce their risk and instances of fraud. These include capturing CVV and AVS for all card-not-present transactions, declining transactions when AVS match fails, as well as pausing at checkout to verify that the customer is the cardholder by requesting an ID. Additionally, EMV is a big component now. By swiping a chip card (rather than inserting it) merchants are forgoing all the security benefits of this new technology, which puts their customers at greater risk of fraud and puts the business at risk of a bank-initiated chargeback — an incentive card issuers are using to encourage EMV adoption.
Methodology
Finder’s data is based on an online survey of 1,790 US adults born between 1928 and 2002 commissioned by Finder and conducted by Pureprofile in September 2020. Participants were paid volunteers.
We assume the participants in our survey represent the US population of 254.7 million Americans who are at least 18 years old according to the July 2019 US Census Bureau estimate. This assumption is made at the 95% confidence level with a 2.32% margin of error.
The survey asked respondents whether they’ve experienced credit card fraud in the past 12 months and, if so, how they found out their credit card had been compromised.
We sourced monetary amounts and the number of credit card fraud reports by state from the Federal Trade Commission Data Book for 2019 published in January 2020. To calculate credit card fraud reports per 100K population in each state, we used 2019 Census estimates of each state’s population.
We define generations by birth year according to the Pew Research Center’s generational guidelines:
Gen Z — 1997-2002
Millennials — 1981-1996
Gen X — 1965-1980
Baby boomers — 1946-1964
Silent generation — 1928-1945
We define geographical regions according to the divisions of the US Census Bureau.
American adults have seemingly experienced a significant drop in credit card fraud victimization, according to a survey from finder.com has discovered. An estimated 14% of American adults who hold at least one credit card — roughly 35.5 million Americans — report they’ve been on the wrong end of fraudulent transactions at least once, a decrease of 28%. How much criminals made off with through this fraud is even more alarming.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans fell victim to an estimated $1.5 billion in fraud in 2018. Over 50,000 of the 1.4 billion cases reported to specifically being credit card fraud.
Who’s the easiest target?
Fraud shows no gender discrimination, with almost 20 million men (17%) and nearly 16 million women (11%) admitting to falling victim to credit card fraud at least once in their life.
Before pulling out the “Okay, Boomer” burn, a survey from finder.com found that 55.7 million (22%) of reporting Millennials admitted to falling victim to credit card fraud. Arriving second in line were 14.5 million (14%) reporting GenXers and, bringing up the rear, 11 million (12%) of reporting baby boomers said they had fallen victim of credit card fraud.
Generation
Percentage
# of Americans
Millennials
17.75%
9,899,641
GenX
14.13%
14,536,182
Baby Boomers
11.58%
11,027,448
How can you find out if you’re a victim of fraud?
Given how fast the world turns, consumers must vigilantly stay on top of who’s charging us and for what. Fortunately, we can assume that banking institutions are more vigilant than ever when monitoring fraud: 53% of Americans surveyed found out their account had been compromised after their bank reached out to them directly. Although the most common way individuals were notified of fraud was by phone call, 36% Americans found out they’d fallen victim through their banking statements. The remainder were clued into a problem when they swiped their plastic at the register and received a big, fat “DECLINED”. We can look at the results in two ways:
It’s encouraging that over a quarter of those surveyed are vigilant enough with their finances to catch errant charges.
It’s insane that more than 50% of Americans needed a third party to let them know something was awry.
Either way, we all need to do more to protect our finances both on and offline.
Percentage
Method of discovering credit card fraud
52.7%
Phone call or email from their bank
35.7%
Checking statements and finding fraudulent charges
6.4%
Credit card declined when they tried to use it
What are Top 5 states with the highest instances of credit card fraud?
The best way to minimize the chances of becoming a victim of fraud is to protect yourself against the many ways that criminals can get a hold of your sensitive personal and financial data.
Online
While not all scams reach you online, phishing and other cybercrime are easy ways to part you with your money. And scammers are only becoming more sophisticated, using increasingly elaborate schemes to trick you into revealing personal and financial information.
Phishing scams and malware. These scams are typically email designed to look like they come from reputable institutions but are in fact trying to get to your credit card number or passwords. This is all an attempt to gain your trust so that you click, share or open what they’re pedaling, sometimes unleashing viruses, trackers or other malware on your device.
What can you do? Before opening any email, verifying your personal data or downloading an attachment, make sure the request comes from a legitimate source. Know that no lawful bank, retailer or provider will ask you to confirm personal information online. If in doubt, call the institution it appears the request is from to confirm the request.
Online shopping. Shopping online is part and parcel of living in the 21st century. But just as you might give the side-eye to swiping your card at a sketchy shopfront, you’ve got to keep your wits about you. While many online retailers are legitimate, scammers leverage the anonymity of the Internet to rip you off. If it sounds too good to be true, it just might be.
What can you do? Be wary of any deal that asks for upfront deposits or specific payment methods, like wire transfers or money orders. Also, check that you’re on an encrypted page. Look for a padlock to the left of your page’s URL, which itself should start with “https,” indicating a secure site. And search the Internet to see what others say about the site.
Offline
With so many tips about protecting yourself from digital scammers, keep an eye out for more traditional fraud in the analog world.
Dumpster diving. Yep, people are digging through your garbage to find more than just reclaimed food or recyclable cans and bottles. Rather, they’re after the details you toss away that can help them steal your identity.
What can you do? Never throw out documents that contain your personal information without at least making some effort to tear them up or run them through a shredder. Better yet, cancel as many paper bills or statements as you can, instead opting for electronic statements.
Stolen or lost cards. There’s no easier way for a thief to make fraudulent charges than by having your actual card in their possession.
What can you do? Whether you think you’ve left your card behind at the bar or your wallet’s gone missing, act fast. Call the last location you remember having it to see if somebody’s found it. If not, contact your bank immediately to cancel your card.
Beware the skimmers. They’re tricky little devices can be hard to spot, but scammers are known to attach these card readers on ATMs, gas pumps and other devices requiring your card for payments or withdrawals.
What can you do? Before inserting your card, jiggle or shake the reader. Moving it around could detach a poorly attached skimmer. Also take a closer look: If the card reader looks suspect, don’t use it.
Start out with even a small side gig, and you may be surprised at how quickly it takes off. It just could become your main source of income.
Methodology
We assume the 2,026 participants in our survey conducted by Pureprofile in October 2019 represent the US population of 253.9 million Americans who are at least 18 years old according to the 2018 US Census Bureau estimate. This assumption was made at the 95% confidence level with a 2% margin of error. The survey asked people if they’ve experienced credit card fraud in the past 12 months and how they found out their credit card had been compromised. All incomplete answers were removed from the data set to provide the most accurate data.
Monetary figures and the top 5 state statistic were pulled from the Federal Trade Commission Data Book for 2018 dated February 2019. To avoid skewing the data, this outlier was not included in mean calculations. We define generations by the age of participants at the time of the survey: • Millennials — ages 18 to 34 • Generation X — ages 35 to 54 • Baby boomers — ages 55+
American adults are increasingly finding themselves the victims of credit card fraud, a survey from finder.com has discovered. An estimated 42% of American adults who hold at least one credit card — roughly 103 million Americans — report they’ve been on the wrong end of fraudulent transactions at least once. How much criminals made off with through this fraud is even more alarming.
Americans fell victim to an estimated $1,319 in credit card fraud, totaling some $136 billion in fraudulent charges. For perspective, that’s more than the GDP of 132 countries that include Angola, Kuwait, Sudan and the Ukraine and more than double the GDP of countries like Luxembourg.
Think about that: The amount Americans are defrauded is beyond the GDP of just more than 70% of all countries worldwide.
How can you find out if you’re a victim of fraud?
Given how fast the world turns, consumers must vigilantly stay on top of who’s charging us and for what. It’s evenly split as to how those in our survey learned about the fraud on their accounts: 46% of those surveyed found out after their bank reached out to them or because they checked their statement. The remainder were clued in to a problem when a retailer declined their card at the point of purchase.
We can look at the results in two ways:
It’s encouraging that nearly half of those surveyed are vigilant enough with their finances to catch errant charges.
It’s insane that more than 50% of Americans needed a third party to let them know something was awry.
Either way, we all need to do more to protect our finances both on- and offline.
Percentage
Method of discovering credit card fraud
46%
Phone call or email from their bank
46%
Checking statements and finding fradulent charges
8%
Credit card declined when they tried to use it
What are the top 5 states with credit card fraud complaints?
How can you protect yourself against fraud?
The best way to minimize the chances of becoming a victim of fraud is to protect yourself against the many ways that criminals can get a hold of your sensitive personal and financial data.
Online
While not all scams reach you online, phishing and other cybercrime are easy ways to part you with your money. And scammers are only becoming more sophisticated, using increasingly elaborate schemes to trick you into revealing personal and financial information.
Phishing scams and malware. These scams are typically email designed to look like they come from reputable institutions but are in fact trying to get to your credit card number or passwords. This is all an attempt to gain your trust so that you click, share or open what they’re pedaling, sometimes unleashing viruses, trackers or other malware on your device.
What can you do? Before opening any email, verifying your personal data or downloading an attachment, make sure the request comes from a legitimate source. Know that no lawful bank, retailer or provider will ask you to confirm personal information online. If in doubt, call the institution it appears the request is from to confirm the request.
Online shopping. Shopping online is part and parcel of living in the 21st century. But just as you might give the side-eye to swiping your card at a sketchy shopfront, you’ve got to keep your wits about you. While many online retailers are legitimate, scammers leverage the anonymity of the Internet to rip you off. If it sounds too good to be true, it just might be.
What can you do? Be wary of any deal that asks for upfront deposits or specific payment methods, like wire transfers or money orders. Also, check that you’re on an encrypted page. Look for a padlock to the left of your page’s URL, which itself should start with “https,” indicating a secure site. And search the Internet to see what others say about the site.
Offline
With so many tips about protecting yourself from digital scammers, keep an eye out for more traditional fraud in the analog world.
Dumpster diving. Yep, people are digging through your garbage to find more than just reclaimed food or recyclable cans and bottles. Rather, they’re after the details you toss away that can help them steal your identity.
What can you do? Never throw out documents that contain your personal information without at least making some effort to tear them up or run them through a shredder. Better yet, cancel as many paper bills or statements as you can, instead opting for electronic statements.
Stolen or lost cards. There’s no easier way for a thief to make fraudulent charges than by having your actual card in their possession.
What can you do? Whether you think you’ve left your card behind at the bar or your wallet’s gone missing, act fast. Call the last location you remember having it to see if somebody’s found it. If not, contact your bank immediately to cancel your card.
Beware the skimmers. They’re tricky little devices can be hard to spot, but scammers are known to attach these card readers on ATMs, gas pumps and other devices requiring your card for payments or withdrawals.
What can you do? Before inserting your card, jiggle or shake the reader. Moving it around could detach a poorly attached skimmer. Also take a closer look: If the card reader looks suspect, don’t use it.
Casey Kozieja is a Finance PR Specialist at finder.com, working to help millions of Americans make smart financial decisions. She earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Penn State University. Prior to Finder, Casey worked in entertainment PR, helping to publicize musicians and films. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling to new places, hanging out with friends and searching NYC for hidden shopping gems.
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