More than one million incidents of financial fraud occurred in the first six months of 2016, according to official figures released by Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK). anks and key financial services providers across the UK come together for the first time to launch a national campaign to combat financial fraud. The campaign – Take Five – aims to put consumers and businesses back in control with straight forward advice to help prevent financial fraud. It focuses on financial frauds directly targeting customers, such as email deception (known as phishing) and phone and text-based scams (sometimes known as vishing and smishing), and is designed to remind people that it pays to stop and think. It will also help protect people from criminals duping them into moving money into bank accounts controlled by the fraudsters.
Visit the campaign website www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk. A total of 1,007,094 cases of financial fraud (payment card, remote banking and cheque fraud) occurred in January to June 2016, an increase of 53 per cent on the same period in 2015 during which there were 660,308 cases of financial fraud.
For the 2015 financial fraud figures visit https://www.financialfraudaction.org.uk/.
Katy Worobec, Director of FFA UK, said: “Banks and other financial service providers work hard to protect their customers, using highly sophisticated security systems. Last year, banks stopped £7 in £10 of attempted fraud from happening. But as the banks’ systems get more advanced, fraudsters turn their attention elsewhere and sadly this often means tricking people out of their personal details and money. Alongside the banks, people can also play an important part in helping us to stop financial fraud and protect themselves. We are asking people to take five – to take that moment – to pause and think before they respond to any financial requests and share any personal or financial details.”
Backing the campaign, Home Office Security Minister, Ben Wallace, said: “The impact of financial fraud can be devastating on victims, with fraudsters using increasingly cunning and convincing tactics. They prey on people who are trying to get on with their lives but in a moment where they are busy or distracted become vulnerable. The message of the Take Five campaign is don’t be hurried or hustled, take a moment before you give out any personal information. At the same time, the Government is working closely with law enforcement and the banking sector through the Joint Fraud Taskforce to take action to stop the organised criminals behind financial fraud.”
To mark the launch of Take Five, new research suggests almost three quarters (73 per cent) of people claim they are aware of the methods fraudsters use. Yet, at the same time more than a quarter (26 per cent) of people admit they still provide personal details to people claiming to be from their bank even if they do not think they should.
The most common reason for respondents sharing their details was because they felt the person seemed genuine (43 per cent) while almost four in ten (39 per cent) said it was because they felt pressured. Almost four in ten (38 per cent) also said it was because they were busy/in the middle of something and wanted to get them off the phone quickly.
Of those who have been a victim of financial fraud, almost a quarter (24 per cent) admitted the main reason was because the fraudster was extremely convincing. More than a third (37 per cent) of people thought they were being scammed during the conversation but still continued with the transaction and almost a quarter (23 per cent) realised after the conversation had finished.
Tony Blake, Senior Fraud Prevention Officer, DCPCU (Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit), said: “Many people already know the dos and don’ts when it comes to sharing personal details, but it is easy to forget if you feel flustered, pressurised or rushed into sharing information. Take Five is about knowing it is fine to stop a conversation or not to respond to an email so you can take a moment to think and take back control of the situation. Everyone needs to be vigilant and safeguard their information – if you get any calls, texts or emails out of the blue asking for your personal or financial details always take a moment to stop and think.”
Comment
Robert Capps, VP of business development at NuData Security, said: “We’re saddened, but not shocked, to see these findings. In this study, the fact that fraud losses climbed 53 per cent in six months in the UK is a sad state of affairs for consumers who can often bear the brunt of the costs (especially with regard to account takeover and new account fraud). It’s absolutely no wonder that consumers are pushing back on companies to improve security, holding them accountable for it, yet still wanting to have a good experience going through the gates.
“Financial fraud offers a lucrative source of income for cybercriminals, totaling £755m in 2015 in the UK alone. Cybercriminals have grown in their sophistication, exploiting the human interest factor by posing as banks or suppliers and then duping consumers into revealing their personal details. These scams have also proved effective in targeting commercial organisations, as senior executives are tricked into revealing sensitive information which enables access to a company network. The increasing volume of attacks globally can also be attributed to more fraudsters willing to commit the crime, more data available on the black market, and more financial institutions and merchants that are vulnerable to attacks. Plus, as more countries fully adopt EMV, we’ll see fraud continue its migratory path to all available online channels.
“We have to remember; fraudsters know us better than we do in that they’ve pegged our vulnerabilities. It’s time we returned the favour. They are vulnerable because they must do very similar behaviours to be successful, and guess what? We can find them by their tell-tale signals. To detect out of character and potentially fraudulent transactions before they can create a financial nightmare for consumers, we must adopt new authentication methods that they can’t deceive. Solutions based on consumer behaviour and interactional signals are leading the way to providing more safety for consumers, and less fraud in the marketplace.
“To combat these types of attacks, consumers should always report emails to their banking provider. No legitimate organisation will ask for security or banking details so consumers need to be suspicious of any email that requests this information.”
Steps that consumers can take to help secure themselves:·
Shop with well-known companies online, or use safer payment systems such as PayPal, ApplePay or Android Pay, to avoid providing your payment details directly to an unknown merchant.
Use strong, unique passwords on each site you register with.
Make sure to change your passwords regularly.
Don’t use public computers or free, unencrypted Wi-Fi to conduct financial or retail transactions or interactions.
Don’t fall victim to email and phone scams, where a consumer receives a call from “their bank” asking for personal, or financial account information. If it looks too good to be true, it most likely is. When I doubt, call the bank directly, based on the number printed on the back of your card, or on a recent statement.
If you suspect you have been a victim of fraud in the UK, report the crime to http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/.
