Debit and credit card fraud has fallen dramatically as criminals turn their attention to the easier pickings to be had from fleecing online banking customers.
Figures released today by the UK Cards Association revealed a substantial 28% drop in fraud losses from 2008 to 2009, amounting to £170m. This dramatic fall to lowest levels since 2006 was put down to combination of initiatives from banks, including chip and PIN, as well as greater police input.
The picture online was less rosy, however. Online banking losses ramped up 14% in 2009 compared to year earlier figures, totalling £59.7m, as fraudsters targeted the weakest link in the chain – individual banking customers – and tripped them up using phishing or malware attacks. Phishing attacks grew 16% in 2009 compared to year earlier figures, as customers disclosed their banking details to fake email requests or cold callers.
Mel Morris, CEO at Prevx, said that part of the problem with this sharp increase in online attacks was the “silver bullet” mentality of many PC security vendors who gave consumers a false perception of how secure their PCs were. He called on the industry to better educate consumers on the realities of Internet security.
“Today, anyone with a PC can purchase a banking fraud kit online for a few thousand pounds. These kits allow the purchaser to target PCs anywhere in the world and infect them with a powerful information stealing Trojan (or Bot), which monitor all Internet activity, recording everything and anything entered or displayed by someone browsing the web,” said Morris.
