Approving Fraud
Figures from UK Finance – a trade association representing the UK finance and banking industry – revealed more than 19,000 people were targeted by Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams in the first half of 2017. The fraud has cost customers more than £100 million, with an average loss of £3,000 for consumers and £21,000 for […]
Smartphone hacks for dummies
More than 40% of European consumers use mobile banking on their smartphones. While apps such as mobile banking and payments have helped simplify personal finance management, they also require a user’s personal information. Most banking apps have software that verifies a user’s identity when they log in, often using financial companies like Payfone to verify […]
Smishing: a new route for an old trick
Scam artists are moving away from calling phones and targeting victims through text messages instead. Their new method: Smishing (SMS-Phishing). What is Smishing? Smishing works in much the same way as a contemporary phishing e-mail, but the scam is sent by Short Message Service (SMS) messages instead. Preying on people’s panic and sense of urgency, […]
Why fraud evolves, and how to address it
Fraudsters are business people. When one route to generate revenue is closed, they will open another. Equally, when one issue for a network operator disappears, it is commonplace for that revenue loss to move to another method of fraud, rather than disappearing entirely. For the network, it does not matter if they are experiencing SIM […]
SIM swap fraud: simply stealing
According to the U.S. Fairtrade Commission, cases of SIM swap fraud have increased by more than 150% since 2013. Now, with more than 2,658 cases a year, the fraud is becoming increasingly popular for its sheer simplicity. But what is it exactly and how can it be prevented? SIM swap fraud SIM swap fraud is […]
Public Wi-Fi and identity theft
Many of us think nothing of using public Wi-Fi networks to catch up on emails, browse the web or check social media. However, you could be inadvertently giving away more information than you think. Many opportunistic criminals hack public Wi-Fi systems or even create their own networks to access people’s passwords and other private information. […]
Ransomware: Protect yourself and your business
Just weeks after the WannaCry malware infected more than 230,000 computers in more than 150 countries worldwide, yet another form of ransomware targeted some of the UK’s largest organisations. This malware, given various names including Petya, NotPetya or Golden Eye, blocked computers, preventing users from accessing data, and demanding a ransom to release it. The […]
Mobile banking fraud: how to keep safe online
According to mobile security experts, 84% of mobile banking users are confident that their banks are completely on top of security and fraud prevention. But should they be, if more than a quarter of UK consumers that experienced banking fraud noticed the behaviour before their banks did? Mobile payments are becoming increasingly commonplace, exceeding a […]
The rise of mobile and contactless payment fraud
After the first contactless cards were issued throughout the UK in 2007, over the last decade the payment method has surged, and evolved. Contactless card payments with a ‘tap and go’ limit are now useable throughout most of the world, while systems such as Apple Pay and Android Pay have been introduced for the mobile […]
Smartphones v Fraudsters: The battleground for data
The latest report released by Cifas— the UK’s dedicated fraud prevention service—shows that identity fraud has reached the highest level ever recorded. According to the research, 172,919 counts of identity fraud occurred in 2016, an increase of 68 per cent since 2010. As a result, identity fraud is now responsible for more than half of […]