Credit card crime increase in Beijing

Credit card crime has been on the rise in the capital in recent years, a Beijing court said on Tuesday.

According to official statistics, Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court heard just 22 criminal cases relating to credit cards in the whole of 2014, yet has dealt with 15 such cases in the first eight months of this year.

"Credit cards have become a necessity in people's daily life, as they are convenient form of payment. But offenses or violations related to these cards have been also increasing," said Yang Ziliang, deputy chief judge of the court's criminal tribunal.

Over the past three years, the court has heard 56 credit card cases, 52 of which related to fraud.

"Some convicts made credit cards to cheat others out of huge amounts of money, while some used fake identities to apply for cards from banks," said Yang.

Many of the offenders were migrant workers in their 30s who often pleaded guilty during case hearings, he said.

Some intended to earn money legally, but resorted to credit card fraud because they needed quick cash and didn't have a stable job.

"But considering their confession to the crimes, most of them were given lenient penalties — less than five years in prison," said Yang, who identified supervisory loopholes at some banks as a reason for the increase in fraud.

"A bank cannot only allocate credit cards, but also make a stricter system to verify card holders' identities," he said.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn