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Cost of online fraud up again, report reveals

Published on 10 Mar 2010 under category: legal

The amount of money being lost to online fraud across the UK has continued to increase, newly-released statistics show.

According to the latest figures from the UK Cards Association, while the number of individual cases of fraud has fallen over the past year, the amount of money being lost by victims of the crime has risen by 14 per cent.

The report also reveals that criminals are increasingly switching their attention away from the well-protected computer systems of banks and businesses and instead targeting home computers in a bid to obtain personal information which can be used to gain access to accounts and funds.

In particular, cases of phishing, whereby fraudsters send out emails purporting to be from a bank or business asking for sensitive data, has been seen to rise by 17 per cent in terms of number of cases over the past 12 months, while cases of fraud committed over the telephone still remain widespread, the report also revealed.

A spokesman for the UK Cards Association concluded: "Fraudsters are now relying on the weakest link in the chain, and that is online banking customers themselves."

Just last month, the payment body played down claims made by the BBC’s Newsnight that fraudsters are now managing to get around Chip and PIN payment systems.

If you require advice on Corporate Fraud please call us on +44 (0)20 7831 0101 and ask for Dan Hyde.