BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – With America on the verge of converting to EMV credit cards in the next few years, fraudsters are trying to get in on last-minute scams. This is particularly true for credit card thieves in Europe, who consider the unsecure American system an easy target, according to a recent article on the credit card information website, LowCards.com.

The issue is so bad that some European credit card companies simply do not trust purchases made in the America and may even decline American credit cards at the point-of-sale, causing problems for retailers and card users.

The United Kingdom in particular has already seen a big hit from the vulnerable U.S. credit card systems. According to the article, fraud went up significantly in U.K. because cards were being counterfeited and used in the U.S.

On the bright side, experts expect that once adoption begins, the U.S. will adopt EMV much more rapidly than other countries have, and this rapid adoption will be a big advantage against continuing fraud. By October 2015, more than 70% of American credit cards are scheduled to have chip and PIN technology.

For more on EMV, read “Half Covered” in the May issue of NACS Magazine.