Online banking fraud is down but online purchases using
stolen card details have shot up, according to figures
fromApacs
.
The UK payments body said that losses in the UK to
online banking fraud fell by 33% to £22.6m in 2007 compared
with 2006. A 44% increase was recorded in 2006 compared with
2005.
Sandra Quinn, director of communications at Apacs, attributed
the fall to banks introducing security measures and greater
customer awareness.
"Increased vigilance and the work that banks have done, such as
rolling out
two-factor authentication have helped. Customers are more aware
because it would be hard not to be aware of online banking fraud
now after four or five years of threats," Quinn said.
She added that banks were paying
more attention to online fraud. "Banks are always going to
protect the areas of biggest risk. As online banking fraud grows,
banks have more initiatives to prevent it," she said.
Quinn warned that although online banking fraud appears to have
been capped it could still rise again due to the inventiveness of
online fraudsters.
Meanwhile criminals abroad using the internet to buy goods with
stolen card details pushed overall card fraud up by 25%. According
to Apacs, this fraud cost £223m and accounted for 77% of
card-not-present fraud.
Quinn called for
additional layers of security for consumers making internet
payments. "We are looking for an additional layer of security
and password protection that creates a bother hurdle for
fraudsters," she said.