Queensland Police are working with at least two banks investigating thousands of incidents of debit card-skimming on Brisbane’s Northside.

It’s understood at least 5,000 cards were cancelled after the fraudulent behaviour was discovered.

Amity Neumann reports.

TRANSCRIPT

Both the Commonwealth Bank and Credit Union Australia have confirmed that 5,000 cards have been cancelled because of card skimming.

Queensland Police are currently working with the banks to investigate the card fraud.

Brisbane business owner Kristina Cowen is a victim of another form of credit card fraud.

A customer asked a staff member to put through a transaction manually saying he’d left his card at home.

A couple of weeks later her bank notified her that the transaction was fraudulent.

Kristina Cowen, Business Owner: “It was once that happened that we then got contacted by the police who said this had been a fraud and we, luckily had CCTV footage that we could provide them with.”

Although this type of credit card fraud is common, the fact is that most cases in Australia occur from outside the country’s border.

The head of the Fraud and Corporate Crime Group Brian Hay says the internet is the main vehicle for card fraud and that it’s not a matter of if your card will be compromised, it’s a matter of when.

One cardholder was surprised to find his bank had cancelled his account after someone in the US tried to access it after he’d used it online.

Tama Enright, Fraud Victim: “Hopefully it won’t happen to me again, I guess the precaution for me now is not to use my VISA debit card online.”

Banks and police are warning customers to check their statements regularly and to notify their bank immediately about any suspicious activity.

Amity Neumann, QUT News.