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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Plastic card fraud falls by 23% | Plastic card fraud falls by 23% |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The amount of fraud being committed on plastic cards across the country fell in the first half of the year, industry body Financial Fraud Action UK says. | The amount of fraud being committed on plastic cards across the country fell in the first half of the year, industry body Financial Fraud Action UK says. |
| Losses totalled £233m in the six months - down by 23% on both the first and second halves of last year. | Losses totalled £233m in the six months - down by 23% on both the first and second halves of last year. |
| Fraudsters may have turned to targeting foreign-issued cards, experts believe. | Fraudsters may have turned to targeting foreign-issued cards, experts believe. |
| Phone, internet and mail order fraud levels all dropped for the first time, but online banking fraud losses rose to £39m, up 55% on the first half of 2008. | Phone, internet and mail order fraud levels all dropped for the first time, but online banking fraud losses rose to £39m, up 55% on the first half of 2008. |
| "Although it's difficult to prove, we think that one of the reasons for this dip in card losses may simply be as a result of fraudsters realising that they can prosper more by targeting foreign-issued cards," said Katy Worobec, head of Fraud Control. | "Although it's difficult to prove, we think that one of the reasons for this dip in card losses may simply be as a result of fraudsters realising that they can prosper more by targeting foreign-issued cards," said Katy Worobec, head of Fraud Control. |
| "Particularly those without chip-and-pin protection and which currently have stronger currencies than sterling. | "Particularly those without chip-and-pin protection and which currently have stronger currencies than sterling. |
| "The fact that we've seen a 36% increase in the first half of this year in the amount of fraud being committed on foreign-issued cards here in the UK adds some weight to this theory," she added. | "The fact that we've seen a 36% increase in the first half of this year in the amount of fraud being committed on foreign-issued cards here in the UK adds some weight to this theory," she added. |
| 'More sophisticated' | 'More sophisticated' |
| Chip-and-pin cards were introduced by the UK banking industry in 2004. Total card fraud fell in the two years that followed. | Chip-and-pin cards were introduced by the UK banking industry in 2004. Total card fraud fell in the two years that followed. |
| CARD FRAUD, FIRST HALF 2009 Card not present - £134m (down 18% on first half 2008)Counterfeit cards - £46.3m (down 48%)Lost or stolen cards - £25.1m (down 6%)Card ID theft - £23.9m (up 23%)Card lost in post - £3.5m (down 33%)Total - £232.8m (down 23%) Source: Financial Fraud Action UK Payment fraud: Your rights | CARD FRAUD, FIRST HALF 2009 Card not present - £134m (down 18% on first half 2008)Counterfeit cards - £46.3m (down 48%)Lost or stolen cards - £25.1m (down 6%)Card ID theft - £23.9m (up 23%)Card lost in post - £3.5m (down 33%)Total - £232.8m (down 23%) Source: Financial Fraud Action UK Payment fraud: Your rights |
| Losses then rose in 2007 and 2008 to hit a new annual record last year of £610m. | Losses then rose in 2007 and 2008 to hit a new annual record last year of £610m. |
| Now it seems the problem may be coming under control again. | Now it seems the problem may be coming under control again. |
| One reason for finally reducing fraud when cards are used to buy things over the phone, internet or mail order - known in the industry as "card not present" fraud - has been the introduction of online payment tools, such as Mastercard Secure Code and Verified by Visa, which ask the card owner to type in a second pin code at the point of purchase. | One reason for finally reducing fraud when cards are used to buy things over the phone, internet or mail order - known in the industry as "card not present" fraud - has been the introduction of online payment tools, such as Mastercard Secure Code and Verified by Visa, which ask the card owner to type in a second pin code at the point of purchase. |
| The value of successful frauds also dropped with counterfeit cards, with cards that had been lost or stolen, and where cards had gone missing in the post. | |
| Online fraud | |
| The biggest area of rising fraud occurred in online banking. | The biggest area of rising fraud occurred in online banking. |
| "The increase is largely due to criminals employing more sophisticated methods to target online banking customers through malware scams - which target vulnerabilities in customers' PCs - rather than the banks' own systems which have proved more difficult for the fraudsters to attack," said Financial Fraud Action UK. | "The increase is largely due to criminals employing more sophisticated methods to target online banking customers through malware scams - which target vulnerabilities in customers' PCs - rather than the banks' own systems which have proved more difficult for the fraudsters to attack," said Financial Fraud Action UK. |
| There were also more than 26,000 phishing incidents during January to June 2009 - a 26% increase on the number in the same period last year. | |
| Phishing is when a fraudster sends out e-mails which appear to be from a bank, but actually try to divert users to websites run by the fraudster as a way of trying to find account numbers and passwords. | |
| A recent report by security group MarkMonitor found that payment services suffered 49% of these attacks in the second quarter of the year. | |
| Auction sites were targeted less than before, but e-mails from fraudsters pretending to be from social networking websites rose sharply. | |
| The report claimed that the problem was by far the most serious in the US. | |
| Earlier this week, it was revealed that the Google's web-based e-mail system, Gmail, as well as Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft's Hotmail, had been targeted as part of an industry-wide phishing scheme. |