Card fraud down 5%
Tuesday, 07 November 2006 12:00
Card fraud has fallen five per cent over the six months to June 2006 figures out today show.
However, the latest study of UK card fraud losses by Apacs, the UK payments association, shows online banking fraud has gone up 55 per cent, with an astonishing rise of 1,471 per cent in phishing incidents.
Phishing is when fraudsters send emails encouraging people to enter their banking details in fake websites designed to look like their bank's sites.
The report shows online banking fraud losses reached £22.5 million over the first half of this year.
However, Apacs's report shows the drop in total card fraud was mainly due to chip and pin, with face-to-face retailer card fraud down 43 per cent, the number of cards fraudulently used after being intercepted during delivery down 57 per cent and cards used fraudulently after being lost or stolen down 19 per cent.
Sandra Quinn of Apacs, commented: "These latest fraud figures show that the industry's efforts are making their mark.
"However, each and every one of us can also help defeat the fraudsters, and protect our cards and online accounts, by keeping our pins, passwords and personal information safe and secure."
The figures were accompanied by new research showing millions of Brits were not doing enough to protect themselves from fraud.
A quarter of Britons have passed on their pin to another person, and 27 per cent use the same pin for all their cards.
Additionally, 51 per cent of online shoppers never check the website address changes from http to https - a secure connection - when they are making a purchase.
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