Card security slack says Which?

Many people are still not careful enough with their cards, says Which?

Many people are still far too slack about the security of their credit and debit transactions, says the consumer association Which?

A survey of more than 4,000 of its members found that nearly half use just one Pin number for all their cards.

And more than half used their mother's maiden name as a security password.

Which? said people who did this were failing to take basic security precautions when using their cards in a shop or over the internet.

It also pointed to the fact that half of the respondents to its survey admitted not checking that a website was secure before buying items online.

"There's a lot more people can do to prevent fraud occurring," said Martyn Hocking, editor of Which? Money.

"Shredding documents and checking your bank statements are a good start, but people need to be wise to basic fraud risks such as using their mother's maiden name as a password, or shopping on websites that aren't secure," he added.

Theft

Some financial organisations and websites invite people to register using their mother's maiden name as a possible password.

And many people find it hard to remember more than one or two Pin numbers.

But Which? argued that this level of security was simply not good enough.

"If someone wants to steal your identity it can be possible to discover your mother's name before she got married," said a spokeswoman.

"And using just one Pin number for several cards obviously exposes you if you have the details of any card stolen from you," she added.

For many years now, banks and the authorities have warned people to be vigilant about protecting personal data, as well as passwords and Pin numbers.

The Which? survey suggests that at least part of that message is getting through.

One third of respondents said they had suffered some theft from their bank accounts or credit cards.

But most claimed they tried to shield their Pin numbers when using an ATM in public, scrutinised their account statements for dishonest transactions, and tore up or shredded their statements so the information on them would be useless if stolen.