Latest Fraud Statistics Show Worrying Rise

APACs has today released the latest fraud statistics for 2008, showing that card losses have grown to a total of £609.9million. This is an increase of 12% since 2007, and the main areas of fraud appear where card payments are not secured by chip and PIN; primarily cards being fraudulently used abroad and Card Not Present Fraud.

Card Not Present Fraud losses have increased by 13 per cent over the last year and account for 54 per cent of all card fraud losses. This puts the figure lost due to CNP fraud at £328.4m for 2008. APACs are keen to point out that whilst CNP fraud has risen 243% in the period 2001-2008, online payments have risen 524% as more retailers accept distance payments, and consumers increasingly turn to internet shopping.

Account Takeover or Facility Takeover and other identity thefts have also contributed to the rise in fraud. Account takeover is said to be increasingly popular as fraudsters are finding it more difficult to obtain new credit because of the current economic climate. Card identity theft now stands at £47.4million, having seen an increase of 39% since 2007. Figures released earlier in the year by CIFAS put the rise in facility takeover fraud at 207%.

Online banking is another area which has suffered increasing losses since 2007; up 132% to reach a loss of £52.5million in 2008. Although phishing attacks grab most of the media attention, much of the loss is said to be as a result of malware such as key loggers. Consumers are reminded that malware attacks can be prevented by ensuring PCs have firewall protection and anti-virus software is installed and kept up to date.

‘Friendly fraud’ or ‘third party fraud’, where customers claim that goods have not been received, remained constant between 2007 and  2008. However losses because of this type of fraud still stand at £10.2 million and retailers who suffer from this are urged to consider joining a fraud data sharing scheme or fraud forum.

The APACS figures have been released to co-incide with the launch of the National Fraud Strategic Authority’s National Fraud Strategy, which APACs has welcomed.

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A full version of the latest fraud figures from APACs can be found at: http://www.apacs.org.uk/09_03_19.htm

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