HONG KONG, Oct. 29(Xinhuanet)-- Credit card fraud in Hong Kong has dropped to its lowest level, a security chief for Master Card International said.

South China Morning Post Saturday quoted Tim Morris, Master Card's regional chief for security and risk management as saying that the high levels of fraud seen across the world from the 1970s to 1990s were no longer evident, mainly because of the advance in technology at the point of sale and greater efforts by banks to protect user identity.

In the first half of this year, among the fraud cases in Hong Kong, 62 percent of cases involved in counterfeiting credit cards, and the Internet, mail and telephone purchasing fraud cases accounted for only 10 percent.

Of every 100 US dollars spent by credit card users in Hong Kong,only 2 to 3 cents were attributed to fraud, among the lowest levels in the world, Morris said.

Barry Wang, MasterCard's director of regional support and security risk services, still suggested customers be careful with using their credit cards over the Internet. Enditem