Online fraud shows no signs of slowing

VeriSign is confident banks and online retailers are getting the message about fraud prevention

Online fraud is continuing to prove a major headache for e-commerce firms and banks, with 11 per cent of the online UK population falling victim in the past 12 months, according to new research from VeriSign.

The secure web authentication firm’s biannual Online Fraud Barometer report estimated that average loss for individuals totaled £352, with 12 per cent of victims still waiting to be fully reimbursed for the money they lost.

The report also revealed a 12 per cent rise in the number of people who did not suffer any immediate financial loss as a result of online ID fraud.

VeriSign director Phil D’Angio argued that some cyber crooks may either look to harvest information from email or social networking sites which could enable them to impersonate a user online, or sell that information on the black market.

He added that e-commerce firms and banking institutions are, however, implementing greater safeguards to try to cut down these incidents.

“Just because you steal someone’s account details, it’s not good enough any more because the banks and merchants are putting in fraud mechanisms to detect things like that,” he said. “This is one thing which is definitely trending in the right direction.”

D’Angio said that by placing visible security measures on their sites, online firms and service providers can reassure consumers and auditors that they are taking sufficient extra measures to improve fraud prevention.