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News

13/2/2008
Impressive year for unique police unit

The Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit DCPCU the special police unit that tackles cheque...

10/12/2007
Entire village robbed as crooks clone credit cards and withdraw thousands of pounds overseas

An entire village has fallen victim to a worldwide credit-card scam. Hundreds of residents of...

27/11/2007
Make sure you can count on Christmas this year.

Internet fraud specialists the 3rd man group issued an Early Warning to all retailers and eBay...

20/11/2007
BANKING INDUSTRY RESPONSE TO HMRC POTENTIAL DATA COMPROMISE

HMRC informed the banking industry on Friday 16th November that they had mislaid information...

20/11/2007
Discs with 15m bank details lost

Confidential details of 15 million child benefit recipients are on a computer disc lost by HM...

8/11/2007
Days numbered for fraudsters as The 3rd Man gets Early Warning.

Ecommerce figures suggest that 95% of all online fraud detected involves more than one...

29/10/2007
UK's Worst ID Fraud Hotspots Named

London - the UK's financial capital - is also the country's number one location for identity fraud,...

29/10/2007
Online raiders fool banks into handing over customers’ details

A gang of online bank robbers that has taken over the accounts of at least ten people and stolen...

3/10/2007
Fraud abroad drives up card fraud losses

Half year figures (Jan to June 2007) show Online, phone and mail order (CNP) fraud Up 44%...

10/9/2007
SURGE IN CREDIT FRAUD ON THE NET

CREDIT card fraud over the internet has boomed since the introduction of chip and pin...

4/9/2007
It’s official: London remains the Internet fraud capital of Britain.


Post-codes confirm London as UK’s hottest card fraud Hot Spot Local evidence...

31/8/2007
Consumers urged to support fight against online shopping fraud


- Ten million credit and debit cards now signed up to secure online payment systems - Home...

20/8/2007
Visa warns of PCI security deadline

Visa has warned large merchants that they will face fines and higher credit card transaction fees...

10/8/2007
Internet security - Toffs call for action

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has highlighted the threat to the future of the...

27/7/2007
South-east is 'hotspot for crime fraud'

Consumers in London and the south-east are more likely to fall victim to card fraud than elsewhere...

26/7/2007
Security shock: Credit card details hacked into

Thousands of debit and credit card holders in Newcastle could be hit by a breach of security in a...

13/7/2007
Tax letter scam

Kingston Council's trading standards department has warned of bogus information demands coming from...

12/7/2007
Government defends e-crime reporting change

Informing banks rather than police about cyber crime will help detect patterns of criminal...

12/7/2007
Fraudsters test credit cards with charity donations

Fraudsters test credit cards for validity by making donations to charities and similar...

12/7/2007
Major US scam gang caught red-handed

Four members of a south Florida-based criminal gang believed to have been responsible for more than...

21/6/2007
Card fraud is not investigated

The government has been accused of "effectively decriminalising" routine credit card fraud, after...

11/6/2007
Top website puts public at risk with money mule scams

Visitors to the popular Adzooks free ads website are urged by anti-Internet Fraud experts Early...

4/6/2007
Warning to tourists as holiday card fraud doubles in a year

Chip and PIN technology has led to an explosion in the number of British tourists falling victim to...

4/6/2007
Britons hit by credit card fraud

The number of British tourists falling victim to credit and debit card fraud overseas is on the...

30/5/2007
Bulldog fingers sacked employee for credit card scam

Cable and Wireless, the former owner of ISP Bulldog, has blamed a sacked employee for the illegal...

22/5/2007
APACS marks 10th anniversary of online banking

This week APACS, the UK payments association, marks the 10th anniversary of online banking in the...

15/5/2007
Bogus website steals card details to fund huge restaurant orders

London Restaurants Warning of Massive credit card scam Bogus website steals card details to fund...

15/5/2007
Cyber Fraud Hitting Online Retailers Hard

The rising tide of cyber crime is hitting the income of Britain’s burgeoning e-commerce sector by...

14/5/2007
UK shoppers lose thousands in latest online scam

Police are investigating what could turn out to be a massive scam, which has drained thousands of...

14/5/2007
HSBC opts out of home Chip and PIN

HSBC’s decision not to supply customers with Chip and PIN systems they can use at home could make...

14/5/2007
Banks impose home chip and pin to fight internet accounts fraud

All the big banks - except HSBC, which also controls First Direct - are to demand that online...

3/5/2007
ID Fraud Fears

There are fears fraudsters could get hold of Cornish hospital staff bank details. It is after an...

26/4/2007
Early Warning congratulates the DCPCU as it celebrates its five-year anniversary

Happy Birthday DCPCU This Sunday (29 April 2007) marks the fifth anniversary of the Dedicated...

21/4/2007
Verified by Visa scheme confuses thousands of internet shoppers

The bank and credit card company Visa has defended the way it has introduced an online security...

21/4/2007
Motorists hit by card clone scam

Thousands of motorists who use a bank card to buy petrol are thought to have lost millions of...

10/4/2007
Customers should not be put off online shopping

THE recent revelation that a significant number of customers of fashion retail chain, TK Maxx...

5/4/2007
Early Warning to petition the Prime Minister

Everyone knows credit card fraud is a mushrooming problem in Britain .Yet, in effect, from April...

30/3/2007
Fraud victims told: Go to the bank, NOT the police

Hundreds of thousands of people who fall victim to credit or debit card fraud have been told to no...

29/3/2007
Online fraud is all YOUR fault

Or at least, that's what a UK government campaign supported by eBay, BT and Microsoft is...

22/3/2007
Stolen credit cards going cheap on the Web

Fraudsters are selling stolen credit card details over the Internet for as little as $1, according...

22/3/2007
Online shoppers look for the S in secure

But new poll shows that some internet users just don't know what secure...

8/3/2007
It`s Good news for plastic cheats as police stop dealing with card fraud

Everyone knows credit card fraud is a mushrooming problem in Britain .Yet, in effect, from April...

29/1/2007
Ebay auction-fixing exposed

Users of the internet auction site eBay are being defrauded by unscrupulous dealers who secretly...

27/1/2007
Met call for cybercrime-busting unit

The Metropolitan Police have warned that the UK's local police forces "can no longer cope" with...

27/1/2007
Warning on 'Millionaire' email scam

Security experts are warning of a new email scam based on the TV show Who wants to be a...

24/1/2007
UK consumers at risk from online credit card fraud

British consumers take little responsibility for protecting themselves when shopping on e-commerce...

22/1/2007
The UK should consider a centre to deal with cyber crime

The UK public faces real difficulties when it comes to reporting cyber crimes a committee...

18/1/2007
UK consumers not careful enough with credit card details

Amidst growing concerns over the sophistication of credit card and financial fraud in the UK,...

11/1/2007
Police join DTI in dawn raids

The biggest raid by Department of Trade & Industry investigators and police on organised fraud was...

9/1/2007
Surprise fall in internet card fraud as on-line buying rockets

With Christmas shopping on the web up by a massive 40%,the corresponding level of card fraud...

8/1/2007
Experts crack chip and pin security

Experts claimed last night to have found a way of doctoring chip and pin machines to collect...

8/1/2007
WOMAN IN CARD FRAUD

A Woman used bank card details she found on a computer to order a £4,413 TV and 10,000 of...

2/1/2007
'Secret shopper' scam could cost £1,500

The mailing from a business called 'Paid Surveys', states that it is a customer employment firm...

2/1/2007
Thousands have credit cards refused as Visa hits meltdown

Thousand of people found their credit cards were refused on New Year's Eve after the Visa...

28/12/2006
Barclays hit by Xmas email scam

Conmen have targeted Barclays customers over Christmas by trying to persuade them to hand over...

28/12/2006
Email scam on tax rebates

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has warned tax payers to be aware of an email scam offering a tax...

22/12/2006
CREDIT CARD STING LEAVES COUNCIL LEADER WITH £4,000 BILL

The leader of Bath and North East Somerset Council has spoken of his horror after discovering he...

20/12/2006
Consumers warned over "secret shopper" scam

People hoping to make some extra money before Christmas have been warned to watch out for a scam...

15/12/2006
Apacs and Visa grilled over online crime

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has questioned representatives of Apacs and...

15/12/2006
INTERNET URBAN MYTH

A recent email circular claims that entering your PIN number in reverse at a cash machine will...

15/12/2006
Security tightened after store receipts found at depot

A BAG of supermarket receipts listing full credit card details of customers has been found dumped...

21/11/2006
Britain branded 'card fraud capital'

Card fraud has affected more than seven million people in the UK, figures show. Research from...

20/11/2006
Nationwide reveals data theft to customers

Nationwide building society customers learned over the weekend that they could be at risk of...

15/11/2006
Online Christmas shoppers at risk

Fraudsters are preparing to launch organised, large-scale attacks on online Christmas shoppers,...

9/11/2006
Don't spend This Christmas in prison

A Warning of the resurgence of a homeworking scam has been issued by specialist fraud protection...

6/11/2006
Christmas bonanza ahead for Internet card cheats

1 -On-line retailers to get free fraud protection 2 -Extra power to fight data theft by...

4/11/2006
Early Warning launch Fraud Forum Board

Online credit card fraud specialist Early Warning have today launched a online forum board called...

3/11/2006
Hundreds fall victim to card scam

Credit card holders in Sussex have been told to check their bills after police uncovered a huge...

27/10/2006
Staff Alert ... Employee Fraudsters Exposed

New power to expose employee fraudsters Amongst rising concern about call centre security and...

24/10/2006
1 in 3 UK businesses Approached by Fraudsters

Hot on the heels of National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, which ran between the 16th and 22nd...

19/10/2006
Credit card firms shun MP3 site

Visa and Mastercard have stopped accepting credit card transactions for music downloading site...

18/10/2006
Banks put customers at risk of ID theft

BANKS and building societies place customers at risk of identity theft by leaving confidential...

15/10/2006
Police unit will tackle online crime

Police are creating a unit to tackle the escalating problem of internet crime. The E-crime...

15/10/2006
FIRMS DOING NOTHING ABOUT IDENTITY FEARS

Firms are being warned to protect themselves against the dangers of identity fraud, which is set to...

10/10/2006
Store bans cheques in fraud worry

WH Smith has stopped accepting cheques in its stores across Scotland. The company says it has...

5/10/2006
Demand for call centre’s to return to UK as foreign fraud hits British businesses.

UK Internet traders are paying dearly for credit card Fraud as off-shore call-centres workers sell...

5/10/2006
Indian call centre worker arrested for HSBC fraud

A worker at HSBC's Bangalore call centre has been arrested on suspicion of selling the confidential...

5/10/2006
Tesco labelled 'irresponsible' over credit card scam

Thieves are fleecing shoppers out of thousands of pounds by exploiting a 'scandalous' security...

3/10/2006
FLIGHT ROW FRAUDSTER

AN Asian man thrown off a holiday flight because passengers wrongly thought he was a terrorist is...

2/10/2006
Stolen bank details on sale for £5

Credit card and bank details stolen from hundreds of thousands of Britons are on sale in India for...

22/9/2006
£17,000 credit card scam at curryhouse

TWO waiters in a village restaurant have admitted spending £17,000 on luxury goods using...

13/9/2006
Chip and Pin spells the end of cheques

The use of the chip and pin credit card has been an overwhelming success in the fight against...

6/9/2006
LONDON: THE NATION’S NO.1 CREDIT CARD FRAUD HOTSPOT

London is the capital of credit card fraud – and that’s official! The latest figures...

5/9/2006
Free CNP Fraud Postcode Assessment tool

Early Warning thought its CardAware service have today launched a FREE postcode assessment tool....

24/8/2006
PC users stung by credit card chargeback Trojan horse

Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have...

21/8/2006
Bank data breaches probed by info commissioner

Several high street banks could be investigated by the government following reports they dumped...

18/8/2006
Charities beware of donation scam

Charity regulator issues warning A new scam could cheat charities out of thousands of...

16/8/2006
Banks seek new fraud solutions

Banking industry body Apacs is examining new technology options to combat the growing threat of...

14/8/2006
Small firms face identity threat

Small businesses across the UK are being targeted by a new wave of identity theft crimes, the...

14/8/2006
Brit bank details for sale in Lagos

Account details from thousands of British citizens are being sold in Nigeria, fuelling the 419 scam...

11/8/2006
Millions of HSBC customers told online accounts at risk

MILLIONS of people who bank with HSBC have been told their online accounts are vulnerable to fraud....

22/7/2006
Credit Card Fraud Scam Targets Sky TV Customers

Early Warning the online fraud prevention company have just discovered a new type of scam which...

17/7/2006
Early Warning identifies Yahoo as fraudsters preferred email service provider

Early Warning - specialists in Card Not Present fraud protection for Internet retailers - has today...

8/7/2006
Teenage internet fraudster jailed

A man who bought electrical items on other people's credit cards before selling them on eBay has...

7/7/2006
New PayPal scam uses voice recording to trick recipients

Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have...

6/7/2006
Take-away credit card fraudsters jailed

A gang of Sri Lankan restaurateurs involved in a £250,000 credit card scam across the borough have...

4/7/2006
DNSChanger.eg Trojan redirects users to spoofed websites of banks, credit card firms and online shops

DNSChanger.eg is a high risk potential Trojan that can redirect users to spoofed websites of...

3/7/2006
Early Warning Launches New Credit Card Fraud Magazine

The Cardaware magazine. Published on the 1st Monday every month is full of credit card fraud news...

28/6/2006
HSBC hit by Indian fraud scam

POLICE in India have arrested an HSBC employee in connection with a scam believed to have taken...

14/6/2006
JAILED FOR £870,000 CARD SCAM

A "Mr Big" criminal who masterminded an £870,000 Royal Mail credit card scam has been jailed for...

12/6/2006
Chip and PIN scams highlighted

Alarming security holes have been found at the heart of the Chip and PIN system. The UK's...

5/6/2006
Millions in danger from chip and pin fraudsters

The chip and pin bank card system is so seriously flawed that millions of customers are dangerously...

3/6/2006
FRAUDSTERS BOUGHT GOODS WITH STOLEN RECEIPT DETAILS

Credit card details found on receipts stolen from a petrol station bin were used to buy about...

2/6/2006
Fraudsters Target Landlords And Council Websites

There's no escape: if your tenants don't get you, the information published online by local...

2/6/2006
Ernst & Young lose quarter of a million CC numbers

A NOTEBOOK nicked from an employee of Ernst & Young contained 243,000 name and credit card numbers...

30/5/2006
Credit card scam revealed

Tens of thousands of pounds has been stolen from more than 100 motorists using a Solihull petrol...

30/5/2006
Fraudsters turn up the heat

BUSINESS scams are on the increase and small firms have been warned to be especially vigilant over...

25/5/2006
Carders scam spammers

Fraudsters who deal in stolen credit card data have devised a means to extract money from sponsors...

24/5/2006
Barclays fights online fraud with free anti-virus software and text message updates

Barclays is launching a new online anti-fraud initiative and becoming the first bank to offer free...

23/5/2006
Chip and PIN diverting fraudsters online

Fraudsters are increasingly turning to telephones and the internet since the introduction of Chip...

23/5/2006
Fraud warning

Recent figures from the UK payments association Apacs (Association for Payment Clearing Services)...

22/5/2006
Bank customer left open to fraud

A BRADFORD & Bingley customer fears she has been left at risk of identity fraud after the bank...

22/5/2006
Online scams create "Yahoo! millionaires"

In Lagos, where scamming is an art, the quickest path to wealth for the cyber-generation runs...

19/5/2006
ID fraud fear after card details dumped

WH SMITH customers are angry after personal credit card details of their transactions were left...

19/5/2006
Hungarians jailed for credit card cloning scam

Two Hungarian men have been jailed for three years for running a credit card-cloning...

12/5/2006
Chip and pin pushes card fraud abroad

The new "chip and pin" payment system intended to eradicate credit card fraud in Britain has...

11/5/2006
Bank says overseas card fraud on the rise

Lloyds TSB has reported a leap in the number of fraudulent withdrawals from overseas cash machines....

8/5/2006
Chip and PIN boasts 31% drop in counterfeit card fraud

Lost and stolen and counterfeit card fraud in the UK has fallen almost 30% in the first six...

8/5/2006
£1m chip and pin fraud highlights flaws in system

Shoppers have been urged to scrutinise their bank statements carefully after a £1 million chip and...

7/5/2006
Petrol firm suspends chip-and-pin

Petrol giant Shell has suspended chip-and-pin payments in 600 UK petrol stations after more than...

6/5/2006
Customers warned that shops can access their accounts

THE honesty of one customer in a Clarina petrol station has sparked off security doubts over the...

4/5/2006
Ring of swindlers stole £900,000

Three conspiracies misused bank and credit card details TWO call centre employees working for a...

3/5/2006
UK retail security flap exposes 2,000 credit cards

An estimated 2,000 credit card details have been exposed by a security breach at a UK retailer....

30/4/2006
Students in money laundering scam

SCOTTISH STUDENTS are acting as clandestine brokers for an international money laundering...

27/4/2006
MasterCard security breach hits Morgan Stanley

But company still refuses to reveal scale or source of the credit card hack... Morgan Stanley...

27/4/2006
Fraudsters steal 2,000 credit card details

Fraudsters stole the credit card details of 2,000 MasterCard holders in a major security breach...

25/4/2006
Barclaycard to by-pass fraud checks for holidaymakers

In a bid to prevent legitimate cardholders being rejected when using their plastic abroad...

25/4/2006
Small firms bear brunt as cost of cybercrime soars

Small businesses are bearing the brunt of a sharp increase in the cost of computer crime, figures...

22/4/2006
Beware of PayPal Email.

Mebers of the public are being warned by internet fraud specialist Early Warning UK not to fall for...

19/4/2006
Small businesses vulnerable to online crime

Many small businesses are failing to adequately protect their customer data, leaving themselves...

17/4/2006
Virtual cards stay ahead of the fraudsters

CUSTOMERS concerned that their credit card details might be compromised when they shop online can...

17/4/2006
Web Merchants Fighting Costs of Fraud

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Talk about buyer's remorse: A man who had purchased a $4,500 custom-made...

16/4/2006
Revealed: how credit cards are plundered on the Net

THE credit card details of thousands of Britons are being sold in internet chat rooms by criminals...

6/4/2006
eBay bans cash payments in bid to tackle fraud

Leading internet auction site eBay has banned cash transactions from its listings to help combat...

6/4/2006
CHEQUE FRAUD COST ME £8,600

CHEQUE FRAUD COST ME £8,600 SHEFFIELD MP David Blunkett told today how he fell victim of a gang of...

4/4/2006
Barclays to increase security with card readers for online customers

Barclays is to offer its banking customers an interoperable card reader by the end of this year or...

24/3/2006
Attorney general gets tough on fraud

The government is to launch a national anti-fraud strategy, as its legal advisors have said a more...

16/3/2006
Rising net fraud hits small firms

FRAUDSTERS are being forced to look for victims online by the success of chip and Pin - and their...

15/3/2006
Credit card fraud in U.S. led cops to child porn stash

AN internet entrepreneur's child porn stash was discovered after bogus credit card transactions led...

14/3/2006
CNP next on the cards

Cardholder not present (CNP) fraud continued to soar in 2005, but resellers have been given a...

13/3/2006
RI staff victims of credit fraud

An investigation is under way after nine staff in one department of Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary...

8/3/2006
Chip and pin drives online card fraud boom

Criminals' attempts to beat chip and pin have driven the number of cases of online and telephone...

3/3/2006
Insider fraud is rising problem for British banks

Bank staff pressured by criminal gangs to commit large-scale fraud against customers pose a rising...

3/3/2006
Identity theft on increase

CARDIFF has been named as the most dangerous place in Wales for the worsening problem of identity...

2/3/2006
PayPal is no friend to us!

READERS of the Daily Mail and This is Money are furious with eBay payment system PayPal. Two weeks...

1/3/2006
Card fraud set to fall

CARD fraud at tills and cash machines has been brought under control by the introduction of chip &...

28/2/2006
Public Could face prison in new Email Scam

A Warning of a new kind of scam has been issued by specialist fraud protection company Early...

27/2/2006
Small firms must improve anti-fraud strategy

Small firms must analyse their vulnerability to fraud attack and consider the threats to their...

27/2/2006
Tesco's call centre staff sacked for massive online fraud

FOURTEEN staff at Tesco's main UK call centre in Dundee have been sacked or suspended after...

23/2/2006
Thirteen held in banking fraud swoops

POLICE investigating a suspected multi-million-pound banking fraud arrested 13 people yesterday –...

23/2/2006
Police nab $2m Nigerian 419 scammers

Dutch authorities have arrested 12 individuals in Amsterdam and Zaandam for their alleged...

20/2/2006
Chip and PIN to guard e-commerce at home

Following the chip and PIN deadline for high street stores, Apacs last week said that it is now...

20/2/2006
Latest Trojans raid bank accounts

A new type of malware waits until a user visits their online bank and then steals their money,...

20/2/2006
Ten per cent of firms at risk after missing chip-and-PIN deadline

The ten per cent of businesses who missed last week’s chip-and-PIN deadline risk losing their...

20/2/2006
Cyber bank robbers threaten ecommerce

Cyber criminals are surfing into online banks with you to steal your money. Password-stealing...

13/2/2006
St Valentine`s day cards increase online fraud

As a result of the banks’ insistence on Chip and Pin verification for all retail credit card...

7/2/2006
VISA/MasterCard telephone credit card scam

A recent e-mail to the Business Money office read as follows... One of our employees was called...

7/2/2006
Pay Pal and Ebay Users Targeted by Email Scam

Members of The Early Warning online fraud prevention scheme have just discovered a new email Scam...

4/2/2006
Woman admits cards scam

THOUSANDS of pounds worth of goods were ordered by a woman using other people's credit card...

26/1/2006
Credit card firm targets teens

MASTERCARD was accused yesterday of encouraging teenagers to go into debt with the launch of a...

23/1/2006
Banks 'must tackle online fraud'

Lloyds is trying out new measures to beat online fraud Banks must do more to promote...

19/1/2006
New Counterfeit Standing Order Fraud Targets British Companies

Early Warning the online fraud prevention company have just discovered a new type of scam...

12/1/2006
SMEs not taking security seriously

Security experts at a roundtable event have warned that many retailers are still not deploying...

3/1/2006
Combating the threat of online fraud

The online market in the UK is expected to treble in size within the next five years, reaching a...

28/12/2005
People using the internet should beware of fraudsters

Police have issued a fresh warning to people using the internet to beware of fraudsters....

28/12/2005
BT alert over phone bill fraudsters

FRAUDSTERS conned a businessman out of more than £100 when they struck with a new phone scam. A...

12/12/2005
Police investigate charity credit card data hack

Police at Scotland Yard's computer crime squad are investigating the hacking of a UK charity...

12/12/2005
Phishers attack eBay using new technique

Scammers have found a new way to try to trick eBay members into giving them their personal...

11/12/2005
CARD GANG SKIMS £5K FROM TOP COP

Special Branch chief's bill shock She's victim of restaurant scam SPECIAL Branch chief Janet...

9/12/2005
Antiquated" laws helping online fraudsters escape

Banks and retailers need to be able to share more information so they can fight back against...

9/12/2005
Is fraud frightening online shoppers this Christmas?

There could be some good news for those of us who dread battling through the crowds to complete...

8/12/2005
Scheme to pin down internet fraudsters

An online version of chip and pin was launched yesterday in an attempt to crack down on internet...

4/12/2005
Lenders to pool credit card data

A new deal has been signed allowing credit card lenders to pool their data, to try and identify...

28/11/2005
NHCTU Alerts Public To Fake E-Mail Scam

The UK's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) today warned the public to avoid falling victim to an...

15/11/2005
‘Honest’ card scam hits on-line traders

Warning of a new kind of credit card crime that confounds all the usual verification methods is...

9/11/2005
Card fraud via the internet, home and mail order has leapt 29% over the past year

Card fraud via the internet, home and mail order has leapt 29% over the past year, the Association...

8/11/2005
Credit-card fraudsters target internet

Credit-card fraudsters are increasingly turning to the internet now that the "chip and pin" system...

8/11/2005
Internet fraudsters enjoy boom in UK

Internet fraudsters have had another good year, according to the UK’s Association for Payment...

27/10/2005
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED TO HELP UK GET SAFE ONLINE

'Get Safe Online' Report Highlights Public Confusion Over Online Safety Millions of UK...

25/10/2005
How ATM fraud nearly brought down British banking

This is the story of how the UK banking system could have collapsed in the early 1990s, but for the...

17/10/2005
Cracking down on the credit card fraudsters

RUTHLESS criminals who cheat thousands of pounds out of unsuspecting members of the public...

17/10/2005
Chip cards fail to pin down fraudsters

People are still vulnerable at cash machines despite new seurity measures Anyone using a chip and...

17/10/2005
Internet bank's new number on fraud

Lloyds TSB has announced plans to trial a new security device in an effort to combat the growing...

11/10/2005
Credit card fraud falls by a third

Fraud on bank cards has fallen nearly a third since the introduction of chip and pin security,...

7/10/2005
Visa to spend $200m fighting fraud

Credit card giant Visa is to spend $200m on what it calls 'anti-fraud measures', as criminal...

5/10/2005
Bank card scam pair jailed

TWO Romanians who were involved in a scam to clone bank cards by fitting a false front to a cash...

3/10/2005
Why a credit card can't always insure against scams

CONSUMERS who use their credit cards online have been warned of a possible loophole in consumer...

28/9/2005
Bogus FIFA lottery scam hits the net

Fraudsters have launched a phishing campaign thattries to dupe football fans into believing they've...

27/9/2005
Chip and PIN heads for cyberspace

Chip and PIN debit and credit cards have all but conquered the high street and will soon be taking...

20/9/2005
Card companies losing fight against cyber criminals

The battle against cyber thieves has reached a "stalemate" and card companies will have to spend...

5/9/2005
Chip and Pin 'makes ID theft easier'

A study revealed today that the new Chip and Pin service - in which customers enter a pin number...

26/8/2005
LONDON: THE NATION’S NO.1 CREDIT CARD FRAUD HOTSPOT

LONDON: THE NATION’S NO.1 CREDIT CARD FRAUD HOTSPOT London is the capital of credit card fraud –...

24/8/2005
Card scam man gets jail term

A conman framed customers buying spectacles in order to steal more than £135,000 in a credit card...

16/8/2005
Two jailed for scam costing travel companies thousands

TWO men who ran a holiday scam that cost travel companies around £20,000 were jailed last...

12/8/2005
Fax-back phishing scam targets PayPal

Phishers have gone retro with a scam that tries to dupe victims into faxing their banking details...

1/8/2005
Mum left out of pocket by card fraudster

Mum left out of pocket by card fraudster A WOMAN who had her debit card stolen and was tricked...

18/7/2005
High-street fraudsters switch to the internet to beat chip and PIN

Attempted online fraud has almost doubled since chip and PIN technology, intended to make credit...

27/6/2005
UNIQUE WEBSITE WILL HELP COMBAT GROWING PROBLEM OF ONLINE AUCTION FRAUD

Beat the cheat by checking out your buyer or seller for just 50p A new web-based service...

27/6/2005
MAJOR STEP FORWARD IN FIGHTING ONLINE FRAUD

In a significant step forward in the fight against online credit card fraud, leading Payment...

27/6/2005
Fraud Causing One-Third of Online Shoppers to Buy Less

Due to concerns about online fraud, 33 percent of online shoppers are buying less and 75 percent...

27/6/2005
Don't pay up for card fraud

CREDIT card providers have been warned they must not make fraud victims liable for all of their...

24/6/2005
SHOCKED High Street banks

SHOCKED High Street banks yesterday launched an urgent enquiry after The Sun’s probe into crooked...

20/6/2005
MasterCard fingers partner in 40m card security breach

MasterCard has blamed a single individual for compromising up to 40m credit card accounts - a total...

14/6/2005
Fraudsters targeted by operation

Ten people were arrested during a week-long police operation to fight credit card fraud in...

27/5/2005
Fraud expert becomes victim of credit card crime

The founder of an anti-fraud website has himself become the victim of credit card fraud. Andrew...

24/5/2005
UK banks hope to send phishing mules packing

UK banks plan to delay transfers between account holders of the same group by up to a day in order...

24/5/2005
Public worried by online ID theft

Concerns about identity theft are beginning to put people off shopping and banking online. In a...

28/4/2005
Men jailed for credit card scam

Three men using bogus credit cards to earn themselves more than £174,000 in an "elaborate fraud"...

19/4/2005
Bank will face action on fraud

A FIRM in Huddersfield selling computers via the internet is taking legal action against its bank...

14/4/2005
Banks lag behind shops on chip and pin

Banks are lagging behind the retail industry in the roll-out of chip and pin, despite putting...

7/4/2005
High-tech crime costing UK billions

High-tech crime cost the UK £2.45bn last year according to new figures from the National Hi-Tech...

15/3/2005
Report Auction Fraud By Early Warning Goes LIVE

New Website Offers Fraud Screening For Auction Site Users A new website is launched today which...

8/3/2005
“Chip & SPIN”

Chip & Pin launch has less to do with reducing fraud and more to do with reducing the...

7/3/2005
Londoners suffer card fraud boom

THE CAPITAL is in the grip of a credit-and-cash-card fraud boom, with losses soaring 27% to £3m a...

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Anecdotal Fraud Horror Stories provided by EW Members

Hi, here is a recent story regarding our bad experience........

with cardholder-not - present fraud. We take security very seriously and for any large value transactions check the given details against the electoral role and if they match we then proceed to process the card. We made a sale for a custom built computer system for a price of £1,600+ last October. The name and address were verified with the electoral role and the transaction was approved by our then processing company Surefire Ecommerce. Delivery was around 10 days after this and we obtained a signature from the purchaser. We also have the IP address and AOL e-mail address (we don't accept hotmail or yahoo etc for high value orders). Despite all these precautions we have just had a chargeback for this. I have stated to the card processing company that I fail to see what more precautions we could take and that it is obvious the failure here is on their part not ours. I am sick of the way they get away with this - let`s face it the card processing company not only gets their percentage from a chargeback but they get the chargeback fee too so they come out on top. I luckily had just signed up for a new account with a company that carries out CV2 and AVS checking as standard (www.paysystems.com) so have now closed the Surefire account and at present refuse to pay the chargeback amount and have stated to them that I am willing to fight this in court if necessary. Online retailers should not be made to pay for fraud that is allowed through a processor after we have carried out reasonable precautions. Physical store owners are protected and yet let`s face it half of the card numbers that turn up on the net are the ones that the shop staff have stolen a copy of! They take one look at a signature to verify a card and are covered but we carry out multiple checks and still get charged when it turns out the processor has let a completely different name and address to the card holders slip through! Regards, John.


During my time as an e-Commerce developer (last 3 years).....

I've learnt that the banks really don't care. The UK government claims to be pro-ecommerce, so it should do something about the credit card companies who NEVER lose out. The credit card companies should do something about the 18 month potential chargeback situation. Imagine telling a potential e-Commerce client that up to 18 months after they shipped a product to a user (be it digital or hard goods), they could receive an un-friendly chargeback in their letterbox. (This is true in the case of Streamline and SecureTrading). Moving onto digital content the process is ridiculous, we even stopped sending the chargeback letters back because if it’s not got a signature, they just don't give a monkeys. How are we expected to trade with so many potential pit falls? Personally I have seen the rise in attempted fraud from the UK , even more so than the Asian Market ( Malaysia was one of our most challenging marketplaces to get secure payments from). The Streamline fraud facility's are ridiculous, personally I have spent up to 40 minutes on hold, waiting to simply ask for a card address verification. If I phone the card holder present number I get through in less than a few minutes. I want to know where their x% on every transaction is going. By making the merchants life easier, the credit card companies would increase its number of merchant`s, thus the number of purchases in turn would increase. Of course online fraud would increase, but I’m sure the percentages would work out. E.g. more cc outlets = more % on each transaction = more spending = more debts on cc = even more money for the credit card companies - fraud cost. All that gives you happy cc company, happy merchant, and a satisfied customer. I also think however that merchants must do their fair share. Daily I see poorly secured e-Commerce websites. The adoption of stricter checking of security on e-Commerce by the credit card companies may see this happening, and I hope they do.


Hi, we had a merchant account........

that was closed because of authorised CNP transactions totalling some £21,000 subsequently being charged back by Cardnet. If you would like the full story please contact me


Our stories are all older ones.......

Our stories are all older ones, when CNP fraud was in its infancy and before we had tools and training to spot and prevent it (well done, Early Warning!). A thought - is it possible to publish the stories on the site to the members to warn them of the techniques used by the scammers? Our first loss on CNP occurred some years ago. One of our centres received a call on a Friday, the last day of the month, wanting to purchase £5k worth of audio visual equipment. Being the last day of the month the chance to meet target over ruled caution and the goods were dispatched via courier to an address in North London . Three months later the card processor issued a chargeback - the card had been fraudulently used and it had taken three months to get back from the cardholder in New York , via his bank, to UK . A customer phoned our call centre and ordered a camera "for his mother's birthday on Saturday" with Saturday am delivery. We were suspicious and turned him down. He called again, got a different operator who did not check the details, three more orders followed quickly. A chance remark by the operator alerted us and the carrier turned the goods round. One of our centres received an order by telephone for a £3.5k video projector. On the day the customer phoned the centre and said he could not get in but would send someone. A taxi arrived, signed with a squiggle and took the goods. Next day the customer phoned again, said the projector was so good his friend wanted one and could we use his card. Same collection, phone call then cab. Result was a £7k chargeback and the area salesperson, who had been rejoicing at getting commission on deals they had not been involved with, squeaking when they too were charged back their commission.


Well, where would I start?.........

We had our first instance of CNP theft 3 months ago for the amount of £423. My suspicions were aroused when the same customer had placed three orders within as many days with 3 different cards only for which we had dispatched one, so looking into it we found that the first card was from Iceland, so we managed to stop one consignment but not the other, upon this we then telephoned Barclays to see what could be done, Nothing from their end we were told. So I said should I phone the police, "well you could" was the reply, so I rang the police who told me to ring Barclays who once again said the could do nothing and to ring the police . Three hours later I had managed to get a crime number from the police (who really did not seem at all interested) and that was that, a morning spent and I felt like I had got nowhere. Three different card numbers in three different countries and no one wants to know!!! Any way about 1 month later we had an order from the same person at the same address with yet another card number from yet another country!!! Glad to see that he got what he deserved. Since then we have had two other known frauds that we know of but are still waiting for the charge backs. Anyway if Mr Blair wants us to keep up with the rest of the world with the internet shopping then he had better start putting more support into it. Regards David


Our company specialises in the sale........

of metalworking tools predominantly via direct mail order supply. We are a relatively small business and being a British manufacturer it`s hard enough at present without the additional unwanted attention of Credit Card Fraudsters. Anyway, our story relates to two credit card frauds that happened in November of 2002 but went undetected until we received the dreaded chargeback letters from Barclays Merchant Services either side of Christmas. These advised us that the cardholder did not authorise the transactions with our company and that the cardholder`s name did not match with the name given to us over the telephone. Since these were Cardholder Not Present transaction we had to accept the loss (and the usual charges) in full and on each occasion we were taken for £292.  In the run up to Christmas we did not suspect anything as both transactions were authorised by the PDQ machine used by our company. Nor did we see a pattern until the second chargeback letter hit us some 7/8 weeks after the transaction date. With the benefit of hindsight the common theme was: Switch Transactions from the West of Scotland, both orders were for the same item even though our range is extensive and the same Contact Telephone Number was used which happened to be a Mobile number. What makes the case more interesting is that a week before the first fraud we supplied exactly the same goods to an address to the same town ( Ayr ), and the customer paid by Switch. Lo and behold his contact number was the same Mobile Number. To date, this transaction has not gone bad but according to Barclays Merchant Services we may have to wait weeks yet to be sure. We naturally reported this to Barclays Merchant Services but their general disinterest in taking the matter further themselves left me doubting that they are serious about working with businesses and the police to cut this sort of crime. Having done our own investigations into the occupants of the addresses to which the goods went (using electoral roll information) we think we have a very strong case for linking together the possible/probable culprits. Armed with this information I contacted my local police force and was told to contact Strathclyde Police as the crime was committed in their region. This I duly did only to be told that I should report the crime to my local police force, which I then did for a second time. This time my local force apologised for giving me an incorrect steer and promised to send an officer round to take a statement. That was over a month ago, but no sign of the police as yet! Naturally, I am very disappointed by the lack of response from Barclays Merchant Services and even more so by the Police. I am informed that credit card crime such as this can often be linked to larger scale crime, drug related crime, organised crime and even in extreme cases terrorism. Tough on Crime, Tough on the Causes of Crime, wasn't that supposed to be the promise? Perhaps it was a sound bite after all. Luckily, we stumbled across Early Warning by chance and all credit to them for taking the initiative in trying to stop this type of crime. They put the Credit Card Companies and the Police to shame. BW


Like most online companies we've been 'caught out' by fraudulent orders.......

primarily from far off lands ( Indonesia crops up particularly often – as their residents tend to like buying Night Vision Binoculars with other people`s credit cards!). We were however subject to a persistent fraudster who attempted to order a Children's 4x4 jeep on a number of occasions. We ended up actually calling the customer to enquire as to their legitimacy and were then subjected to a torrent of abuse, threats of violence, and general 'nastiness' for as we were "out of ****** order for daring to phone them up." Basically the fraudsters know that the police aren't interested, and don't care who has to foot the bill for the stolen goods. Frustratingly we are and it is muggins here that has to pay for it! I hope this helps. I've tried to keep it short and to the point. Please let me know if I can offer any further assistance.


Hi, Just to let you know that when we first started up online (2000).......

we were seen off to the tune of approx £7,000 in CNP online fraud. In our opinion most or all of this could have been prevented if the relevant card issuing and processing parties were at all interested in prevention We as e-tailers had to take all the losses. Interestingly, with the new revised rules of the card scheme placing more responsibility on the card issuers, all of a sudden new systems are now being launched to combat CNP fraud! The trouble is that at present the CNP processing system is so unprotected that it invites fraud, we are certain that a percentage of the fraudulent orders we receive are from the cardholder themselves just trying their luck. I believe that is possible to wipe out the majority of UK CNP fraud by taking some simple security measures, but these need to be implemented by the card issuers and processors.


I'm delighted that you have written as this is a subject on which we feel very strongly.......

As one of the very early pioneers in on-line Internet business we have seen many of the problems first-hand and have actively lobbied the banks, credit card companies and government/DTI to try and get some procedures in place to protect both vendors and clients in this sort of transaction. We have been doing business on-line since 1993 and I am proud to say that we have lost less than £100 due to credit card fraud during this time. When an on-line merchant signs up with a credit card company it is made totally clear to the vendor that ALL risk lies with the merchant and not with the bank or the end-client. This is despite sophisticated address-checking and anti-fraud procedures applied by the CC processing bureaux such as WorldPay and Secure Trading. However the main issue is one of fraud prevention and reporting. On-line Merchants are at the grass-roots level when it comes to detecting on-line fraud. It is usually glaringly obvious when a fraud has been committed or attempted. The tell-tale signs are normally a large order from a country such as Pakistan , Indonesia , Romania or other such location. Often the order is for a large quantity of goods that most clients would want to discuss in detail BEFORE placing an order. It may be that the client has a western name but the address is totally foreign. Sometimes any e-mails sent back to the 'client' are bounced back. On other occasions the details of the order simply don't add up to a credible transaction. These cases are almost always examples of identity theft or credit card numbers falling into the wrong hands. These orders give us a dilemma because they have been authorised by the bank. This effectively means that the card has not been reported stolen and there are sufficient funds in the account. It does not mean that the card is being used by the bona fide cardholder. The real cardholder may be unaware that their card is being used to obtain goods and services by a fraudulent third party. The first inkling that the cardholder will have is either when the card statement arrives or if the credit limit is reached and further expenditure is barred. In effect, the fraudsters have a time-window and credit window during which they can empty the account and obtain goods at the expense of the cardholder. When we first started seeing these suspicious transactions we attempted to contact the issuing bank to warn them that the card integrity may have been compromised. In the UK this proved to be exceedingly difficult as the banks simply quoted the 'Data Protection Act' and said that they could neither release cardholder information nor accept advice from us. We did find that banks in Canada and Australia were far more responsive and recorded our suspicions through their risk and fraud departments. I have spoken to many people within the banking community about the need to report on-line fraud. The main issue is to have the card cancelled as quickly as possible because whilst the fraudsters are able to use the card they will obtain maximum value of goods possible. Waiting until the cardholder suspects a problem is far too late and can be up to a month after the card has been misused. Far worse is the effect of this delay upon the on-line vendors who, under the on-line merchant agreement, have to stand good for all merchandise supplied in error. We did try a scheme of withholding dispatch of suspicious orders until the cardholder could supply verification of identity, address etc. The bank took a very dim view of this. The banking community are very coy about discussing the level of on-line credit card fraud yet have systems in place for POS card checking and fraud  prevention - even to the point of awarding cash to till staff who are able to retain stolen or fraudulent cards. Yet on the Internet, vendors receive no support, have no reporting procedures and are threatened by the banks if they fail to ship goods immediately on receipt of a credit card order. Our certain knowledge is that it is not the banks who sustain losses with on-line fraud. No, it is the vendor, who can have funds debited from his/her account up to 6 months after an apparently successful business transaction. The bottom line is that the banks want their cake and want to eat it. They are happy to accept commissions on a par with 'client present' sales yet abdicate ALL risk to the vendor who is obliged, usually even without advance warning, recourse or appeal, to pay the cardholder back AND forfeit the dispatched goods. It is my opinion that the banking system needs to address the issue of fighting fraud BEFORE it happens and not AFTER. In order to do this a procedure for reporting suspicious credit card activity needs to be instigated. It can be anonymous or even on-line. It would allow the banks to verify with the cardholder that the transaction is genuine. If it is not the card can be cancelled saving the cardholder, the bank and the vendors the cost and angst of sorting out the mess after the criminals have had their rewards. More information and ideas if required.

Note – all anecdotal evidence has been provided on an anonymous basis. If you wish to follow-up any particular story or wish to have direct contact with EW Members, please call one of the CardAware™ team on