UK: banking fraud is still on the rise, additional diligence is advised

New figures released by the Financial Fraudulent Action (FFA) group show that remote banking and credit card fraud increased dramatically during the first six months of 2014. The fraudsters use computer viruses to extract information from unsuspecting customers. There has also been a sharp rise in deception crimes that persuade customers to disclose their financial and personal information over the telephone.

During H1 2014, online banking losses reached nearly GBP 30 million in the UK. The fraud losses on credit cards amounted to GBP 247.6 million. This actually shows a 15% increase from 2013.

Findings indicate that losses from remote banking fraud rose to GBP 35.9 million, up by 59% from the GBP 22.6 million reported during H1 2013. During the same period, losses from online banking fraud rose to GBP 29.3 million, up by 71% from the GBP 17.1 million reported in H1 2013. Telephone banking is also exposed. The fraud increased to GBP 6.6 million in H1 2014, up by 20% from GBP 5.5 million in H1 2013.

FFA has advised businesses to be more careful to avoid becoming the victims of remote purchase scams. Retailers are also advised to review the profile of their customer, delivery details and the size of the order before they accept a transaction.

The banking industry in the UK provides an Address Verification Service, which allows businesses to compare the original billing address details of the card with the delivery address of the customer.