UK tackles online payment fraud head on

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Shopping online has never been more secure for UK consumers thanks to strategies put in place by retailers to beat card crime

Thieves with a hot piece of cloned or stolen plastic in their hand prefer to use it invisibly, where a card doesn't have to be physically handed over. These card-not-present (CNP) channels are constantly under threat from scammers. But more fraud is being foiled says ReD, who reports that card-not-present fraud could reach an estimated value of GBP242 million by the end of 2010. This is around 9% less than the total last year, when CNP fraud was valued at GBP266 million, according to ReD's figures.

The prediction is based on figures for the first six months of 2010 which show that CNP fraud reached an estimated GBP122 million, a reduction of approximately 9% compared with the first six months of 2009 when CNP fraud losses totalled GBP134 million.

This is great news for UK shoppers. It means they can be increasingly confident about security when shopping on the internet, and take advantage of exclusive online offers. Consumers are clearly becoming more accustomed to requests for security information online and over the phone, knowing to keep their eyes peeled for the https web address and security padlock at the bottom of the page, so that they are able to protect themselves.

The improved situation in the UK is attributed not just to increasingly sophisticated fraud prevention technology thwarting more scams, but also to UK consumers becoming more aware of fraudsters' tactics, and so better at protecting themselves. People are now increasingly security savvy and conscious of the common tricks criminals use to try and get card details, such as phishing - when an email that appears to be from a genuine company asks for a customer's account details - or invasive Trojan links, which once clicked on means the fraudster can monitor keyboard strokes and discover important, personal information such as passwords.

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