Tips For Keeping Your Identity Safe

With the increases in identity theft, you have to be more careful than ever when doing your day-to-day financial transactions that you once took for granted as being safe. The simple tasks of withdrawing money from your bank account, doing the weekly grocery shopping or taking out an insurance policy has made many people victims of identity theft. Read more

Tags: operating systems, phishing, id theft tips, unsolicited phone calls, online Internet sites

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, fraud, Consumer Direct, online security, scams, fraudsters

Fraudulent Attempts to Access Bank Accounts Have Increased

If you have been one of the millions of people who have received an email from your bank asking you to update your information, then it is quite likely that you have been targeted in one of the many bank phishing scams that have been plaguing the Internet and banks. Con artists who try to scam people into revealing their personal banking information has increased about 180% in 2008 over the same numbers for 2007. Read more

Tags: Sandra Quinn, security, fraud, Cybercrime, phishing, June, internet

8000% Rise In Internet Banking Fraud

Many banks have started to offer online banking facilities in the UK, and some banks even operate exclusively online.  Although consumers seem to be growing increasingly confidence with regards to conducting their banking online, the alarming figures indicate that perhaps further information needs to be made available to consumers with regards to Internet banking fraud and how it works.

It seems that the main culprit in the rise of Internet banking fraud is a process known as phishing, and this is where fraudster set up fake website or send out fake emails in a bid to obtain the account details of consumers. Many consumers that are used to banking online don’t think twice about providing their details, but banks have already stated that they do not send out emails to account holders asking them to enter their account details.

Colin Whittaker, Head of Security for APACS, stated: “The rate of growth in phishing is down to a number of factors not least that they have been able to industrialize the process by which they are launching attacks. It seems people are falling victim to phishing attacks less often, which is one of the reasons there has been an increase in the volume of phishing emails.”

According to officials and watchdogs in the UK, millions of pounds have been swindled from unsuspecting consumers, who assume that any emails that they receive with the name of their bank on it must in fact be from the bank. However, consumers that receive such emails should never provide their account details, and should instead report the incident to their bank. 

Tags: identity, fraud, theft, Banking, phishing