Internet isn't to blame for online fraud

Consumer carelessness rather than technology is the cause of a lack of trust in ecommerce and increased levels of online fraud, according to research.

Levels of 'card-not-present' fraud have increased by 33 per cent to almost £110m in the last two years, with online fraud rising 81 per cent to £28m, according to figures from the Association for Payment Clearing Services (Apacs).

The banking organisation says there were 370 million instances of card-not-present fraud over the phone, internet, fax or by mail order in the UK last year. But most cases occur because shoppers don't properly dispose of items such as receipts, bank statements and household bills.

'Unfortunately there is a misconception that when people buy over the internet their card details will be intercepted,' said Apacs spokesman Mark Bowerman.

'But this doesn't happen - it's extremely rare because there's easier ways for criminals to do this. It's not at the transaction that the fraud takes place - these channels are all very safe. It's card holders being careless with their credit card information. Criminals will happily go through bins to find receipts and bank statements,' he said.

Identity theft is also a growing problem, with instances rising 41 per cent to over £20m last year, according to Apacs.

This issue is also largely caused by consumers not properly discarding personal information.

'Identity theft is a massive problem in the US and it's something that we want to ensure doesn't happen here,' said Bowerman. 'Criminals will collect more and more information about you until they have enough to take over your identity and prove they are you.'

A white paper published earlier this month by the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) said that lack of confidence remains the primary factor inhibiting consumer take-up of internet shopping.

'For ecommerce to work well, all participating parties - merchant, payment facilitator, shipper and consumer - must play their part,' says the report.

Apacs says more care and consideration on the part of the consumer would result in a significant decline in online and card-not-present-fraud, and a subsequent increase in levels of trust and confidence.

The figures underline the need for approved and publicly recognisable processes to boost trust in ecommerce. ?Shopping online can be much more secure than just shopping with a credit card,? said Jeremy Beale, head of ebusiness at the CBI. ?There isn?t a quick fix on this one but we do need some kind of authentication system.?