Marbella is the municipality in Andalucía with the highest rate of credit card theft, according to a recent study carried out by the CPP group, the leading international company in credit card protection and services. More credit cards are stolen in Marbella than in Malaga City, which accounts for 29 per cent of the regional total. By autonomous regions, Andalucía is only beaten by Madrid in this ranking. Men between the ages of 35 and 44 are most likely to become victims of credit card theft in Marbella, accounting for 61 per cent of the total, according to the study, while women represent 39 per cent of the total number of victims.
It goes without saying that in any area which has a large population of wealthy people throughout the year, credid card theft will flourish, we are reminded by the CPP group, which carried out the survey among 9,500 card-holding clients. Apart from telling us which regions suffer most from credit card theft, the CPP report also analyses the profile of victims, places, seasons and times that credit card theft generally takes place.
In fact, there is nothing special about the men of Marbella that makes them more prone than anywhere else in the country to credit card theft. Throughout the country, we are told, 61 per cent of victims are men, against 39 per cent of women. Most credit cards are stolen from most men (68 per cent of the total) around the Christmas period and during sales. The percentage figure drops to 32 per cent in the case of women, whose ages tend to vary between 45 and 54, against an age range of between 35 and 44 for men.
The high season for theft of this kind in Marbella is July and August, which is hardly surprising in view of the tourism figures for the same period. Curiously, apart from the immediate Christmas period, December is not a great month for credit card thieves, although most people use credit cards to pay for Christmas gifts these days. The figure for theft during the month of December as a whole is eight per cent of the annual total.
Bag snatching
The easiest way to steal a credit card is not, as we might believe, to plan a visit to one’s home in the dead of night, but to snatch a bag or briefcase during the bright light of day. And nobody is free of the scourge. According to to the report, the thieves do not distinguish between local residents, foreign residents, national tourists or visiting foreign tourists.
The weekend is the most popular time for robberies (46 per cent), especially on Saturday nights between the hours of nine and eleven, when 31 per cent of them take place. This is clearly the time when most people are out and about on the streets with money in their pockets – in a manner of speaking, of course – on their way to eat out or have a few drinks with friends.
Most credit cards are stolen in Marbella on the streets, where 62 per cent of them take place, followed by shopping centres, discotheques and bars, which account for 18 per cent of the total. Fewer cards are stolen on public transport, accounting for 12 per cent of the total.
A police spokespersn told this newspaper that the reason for so much credit card theft in Marbella is because of its importance as a top international tourism resort, busy all the year round. People on holidays tend to be more relaxed about security, we are told, and less likely to take the kind of elementary precautions they would take at home. In many cases, the cards are stolen only because they happen to be in the bags or brief cases stolen, and many petty thieves attempting to steal cash do not even use them. The police remind us to keep our bags close to us at all times in public.
The figures
Sex: Victims are 61 per cent men, 68 per cent at Christmas and during sales, and women 39 per cent.
Age: Men between 35 and 44 and women between 45 and 54.
Places: Streets: 62 per cent. Shops discos and bars: 18 per cent, and public transport: 12 per cent.
In case of credit card robbery, call these numbers: 915811811 or 902330055.
Other numbers: Visa (915196000, 900971231 and 900991216), 4B (902114400 and 913626200) and ServiCaixa (934799914).
Possible identity theft
In spite of the fact that almost 30 per cent of credit cards are stolen from wallets, 41 per cent of all them disappearance as the result of simple loss. But either way, the problem remains the same, and it can cause a great deal of inconvenience. And then there is the additional problem of identity theft.
Identity theft may appear to us to be the exclusive reserve of the rich, but anybody who carries a credit card and has a bank account can become a victim. Because of this, experts consulted on the subject by this newspaper estimate that, once one realises that one’s bank or credit cards have been stolen or lost, one should contact one’s bank immediately and report the loss, thereby ensuring that all accounts can be closed and cards cancelled. From then on, the thief can do no damage with the card. “The thief wants the card for whatever money he can make on it, and making it worthless is the easiest way to beat him,” says one expert.
