Information Age: News, analysis & insight for IT & business leaders

Online banking fraud has soared while a wave of phishing sites and spyware scams netted almost £300 million, according to APACS

Online banking fraud in the UK soared 185% in the first six months of the year to £21.4 million, according to APACS, the UK payments association.

APACS claimed the dramatic increase was due to the success of phishing and spyware scams, with over 20,000 phishing sites set up in the first half of the year.

While online banking fraud is booming, card fraud losses also reached a record high of more than £300 million, an increase of 14% on last year. According to APACS, 40% of the losses were attributable to overseas card-not-present (CNP) fraud in countries without the chip and PIN security feature. In total, CNP fraud represents half of all industry losses.

Mike Davies, VeriSign’s EMEA director of identity and authentication services, said the APACS report was surprising given the increased security being implemented by banks.

“There is however some backlash from consumers as the technology could be easier to use and more convenient,” he said.

“By building security into devices that are always with the consumer, like a credit card or mobile phone, this should increase the adoption and really help to reduce online fraud for the banking industry,” Davies explained. “In addition, consumers should be able to use the same device across all of their online accounts so that they don't have the problem of carrying one around for each website.

Further reading:

Banks upgrade security in wake of rising overseas fraud
Banks in the UK are beefing up online security amid reports that card fraud rose 25% last year, an increase attributed to rising overseas fraud

Businesses not doing enough to combat identity fraud
With idenity fraud on the rise, businesses need to be doing more to prevent fraudsters penetrating their organisation

Find more stories in the Security & Continuity Briefing Room