Watchdog wants tighter regulations to control credit card fraud
A consumer watchdog in the UK has urged banks to put stricter banking regulations in place in order to try and reduce the levels of online credit card fraud, which has increased over recent years and is costing consumers millions of pounds. Which?, the consumer group, as urged banks to safeguard customers that use their credit cards online by bringing in tighter regulations that will increase security for customers and will reduce the risk of online credit card fraud.
Inter fraud has rocketing over the years, and online fraud now represents nearly half of all card based fraudulent activity in the UK. According to figures from APACs the level of credit card fraud as a whole actually fell by around five percent in 2006. However, there was also a five percent rise in terms of remote credit card fraud, where the card does not actually have to be present in order for a transaction to be made.
Which? has also expressed its concern over the lack of fraud protection provided to those that use their credit cards online, and officials from Which? state that many consumers may be under the impression that they have full protection whereas this isn't actually the case. In cases of offline credit card fraud, consumers actually have a fairly high level of protection, but those that become victims of online credit card fraud do not have the same level of cover.
The editor of Which? stated that although identify fraud protection cover was an option, this form of protection was unlikely to provide consumers with value for money. He added: "People probably aren't aware that they're not guaranteed to have their losses refunded if they're a victim of online fraud. If you receive an email that seems to be from your bank, don't reply to it -- give your bank a call instead."
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