UK net crime hits £500m: Government still in denial

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 23 Apr 2008 at 11:42

A new report claims that internet related debit and credit card fraud has hit £500m in the UK - but the Government continues to refute the suggestion that lawlessness is rife online.

A BBC investigation has revealed that the actual figure for net-related card crime is much higher than previous estimates.

Data from the banking industry claims card losses from internet, phone or mail order crime totalled £290.5m in 2007. However, the BBC claims that when failed fraud attempts were taken into account, the figure rises to £500m.

The new figures exonerate the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, which last year claimed that e-crime was running out of control. "At the moment it seems that the internet is increasingly perceived as a sort of 'wild west', outside the law," the committee's report into personal internet security found. "People are said to fear e-crime more than mugging. That needs to change, or else confidence in the Internet could be destroyed."

However, the Lords' recommendations were largely dismissed by the Government. "Although the number and sophistication of security threats has risen over recent years the Government believes that this has to be viewed in the context of the dramatic increase in internet usage," the Government's response stated.

"As such, we would refute the suggestion that the public has lost confidence in the internet and that lawlessness is rife."

No change

A spokesperson for the Home Office told PC Pro that the Government's position hasn't changed in light of the latest figures.

But today, E-crime Minister Vernon Coaker has issued a statement claiming that "the Government has been concerned for some time about the rise in losses due to card not present fraud.

"We are working with the card industry to encourage retailers and cardholders to adopt new anti-fraud initiatives and precautions," Coaker adds.

"In March I met with representatives of the major banks, card schemes and APACS (the UK Payments Association) to discuss possible responses to card not present fraud. The discussions were extremely positive and they are to report back to me in six months with recommendations."

Ironically, one of the Lords' recommendations was the establishment of a central e-crime reporting unit, so that the police and Government could collate accurate e-crime figures. Lords' committee member, Lord Erroll, warned last year that the Government had no idea of the true scale of e-crime. "The reply just says that the Government 'does not see that there is a need' for this," he said of the proposed e-crime unit. "If you have no idea of the scale of the problem, how can you design solutions?"