Protect Yourself and Help in Spotting the Scams of Fraudsters

Fraudsters have scammed UK consumers out of at least £3.5 million in 2008 alone, according to the Office of Fair Trading. Millions of consumers fall victim to these scams each year through adverts and messages sent to them through email, regular mail and by telephone. They include emails from fake bank websites, notifications of lottery wins, offers of free vacations and reduced service costs. Read more

Tags: phishing, scams, Consumer Direct, fraud, online security

Credit cards can provide ‘additional protection’ against online fraud

Paying for goods worth over £100 with a credit card can provide consumers with additional protection against potential ID fraud say industry experts.

A spokesperson for Consumer Direct said: “They [consumers] can get additional protection under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, which makes credit card companies jointly and equally liable. It gives you extra consumer protection.”

He also advised consumers to look out for a padlock symbol on a webpage or the ‘https’ in the website title to show that the site is secure.

Customers should also maintain their security software to afford themselves more online protection and check their bank and credit card statements regularly.

In a recent review of 77 websites of financial firms the Financial Services Authority (FSA) found that a quarter of them “failed to present information in a fair, clear and not misleading way”.

The Office of Fair Trading said earlier this year that the UK internet shopping market is estimated to be worth over £21.4 billion.

Tags: security, Fair Trading, Consumer Direct, credit, trading, security software, credit card statements, Business Finance

Delay in bank charges decision from OFT

The Office of Fair Trading has announced a decision to delay the decision with regards to what can be construed as a fair bank charge for those that default on their current accounts. Many experts were expecting a decision from the Office of Fair Trading this month, but the OFT has now stated that the decision will be left until the end of the this year, as further investigation in bank charges is required before any conclusion can be reached.

The decision by the OFT is good news for some people that are waiting to make a claim for unfair and unjustified charges, as it buys them extra time to make their claims without the level of their claim being affected by the OFT decision. The OFT has confirmed that an announcement about the further investigations in to these banks charges will be made around the end of April of this year.

Once a decision has been reached with regards to what is deemed to be a fair charge for those exceeding their overdraft limits and defaulting on their current account in others ways, future claimants will probably only be able to reclaim the difference between what they were originally charged and the amount that is deemed fair by the Office of Fair Trading, so this gives customers extra time to reclaim the full amount for which they were charged. On the other hand, this delay spells bad news for those that were looking to get lower fees from banks in the future.

One thing that has been worrying a number of consumers and experts in the field is the prospect of banks introducing account fees on current accounts if the charges are dramatically reduced in a bid to try and recoup costs.

Tom Smith
23/4/07

Tags: Consumer Direct, bank, overdraft, consumer protection, prospect