No 147/2025

Date: 27th November 2025

The Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) Economic Crime Unit (ECU) is launching an awareness initiative to safeguard retailers against “Card Not Present Fraud” (CNPF), ahead of the Gibraltar’s annual high-volume Black Friday and Christmas shopping period.

The campaign’s principal objective is to establish a partnership between the RGP ECU and the local businesses community to establish a hostile environment for anyone seeking to engage in fraudulent operations.

While CNPF is typically associated with remote transactions (online, telephone), the ECU notes the changing trend of fraudsters committing this crime in person. Fraudsters will typically key-enter stolen or compromised card details into the Point of Sale (POS) machine using the "Card Not Present" option.

Retailers who are targeted by fraudsters face significant liability in these scenarios. When manual entry bypasses standard security checks, the retailer is often responsible for the resulting “Chargeback” when the genuine cardholder disputes the transaction.

Fraudsters, often operating in small organised groups, have historically targeted high-value goods in Gibraltar during the festive season, therefore, the RGP ECU are providing the following guidance to local retailers:

1. Individual(s) using multiple cards and declined attempts.

2. Individual(s) attempting to control the POS machine.

3. Individual(s) rushing or distracting the cashier.

4. Individual(s) engaged in excessive mobile phone usage during a transaction.

5. Individual(s) using non-UK issued bankcards.

6. Individual(s) engaging in expensive, non-routine purchases.

Previous incidents of this nature over the last few years have resulted in reported losses exceeding £100,000.

The RGP are committed to proactively tackling this type of crime, as a result of which ECU officers will be engaging directly with retailers to promote heightened vigilance during the upcoming shopping season and distribute awareness materials.