GBP39 million lost in online fraud
(8 October 2009 – UK) Figures released by the Financial Fraud Action UK (FFAUK), the UK industry body charged with fighting fraud, showed that online banking fraud losses totalled £39 million (A$70 million) during the six months to June 2009.
These losses are a significant 55 percent increase for the same period last year, when total losses incurred by UK consumers were £25.2 million.
The FFAUK said the increase is largely due to criminals employing more sophisticated methods to target online banking customers through malware scams.
There were also more than 26,000 phishing incidents during January to June 2009, a 26 percent increase on the amount seen in the same period last year.
The news was not quite so grim on the scene of plastic card fraud, where overall total losses dipped by 23 percent to £232.8 million in the first half of 2009.
Losses involved with counterfeit cards halved from £88.8 million a year earlier to £46.3 million.
Figures also indicated that in circumstances where the ‘card was not present’, fraud experienced its first ever decline from £163.9 million in the first half of 2008 to £134 million this year.
Katy Worobec, head of fraud control at FFAUK commented that, although it's difficult to prove, the FFAUK think's that one of the reasons for this dip in card losses may simply be a result of fraudsters realising that they can prosper more by targeting foreign-issued cards.
Criminals are particularly targeting those without chip and PIN protection and which currently have stronger currencies than sterling, she added.
The fact that the FFAUK has seen a 36 percent increase in the first half of this year in the amount of fraud being committed on foreign issued cards in the UK adds some weight to this theory, she concluded.
A specialist police unit, sponsored by the banking industry dedicated to card and cheque fraud across the UK, saved £12.8 million in the first half of the year in attempted fraud
The FFAUK said the increase is largely due to criminals employing more sophisticated methods to target online banking customers through malware scams.
There were also more than 26,000 phishing incidents during January to June 2009, a 26 percent increase on the amount seen in the same period last year.
The news was not quite so grim on the scene of plastic card fraud, where overall total losses dipped by 23 percent to £232.8 million in the first half of 2009.
Losses involved with counterfeit cards halved from £88.8 million a year earlier to £46.3 million.
Figures also indicated that in circumstances where the ‘card was not present’, fraud experienced its first ever decline from £163.9 million in the first half of 2008 to £134 million this year.
Katy Worobec, head of fraud control at FFAUK commented that, although it's difficult to prove, the FFAUK think's that one of the reasons for this dip in card losses may simply be a result of fraudsters realising that they can prosper more by targeting foreign-issued cards.
Criminals are particularly targeting those without chip and PIN protection and which currently have stronger currencies than sterling, she added.
The fact that the FFAUK has seen a 36 percent increase in the first half of this year in the amount of fraud being committed on foreign issued cards in the UK adds some weight to this theory, she concluded.
A specialist police unit, sponsored by the banking industry dedicated to card and cheque fraud across the UK, saved £12.8 million in the first half of the year in attempted fraud
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