Response to the latest fraud statistics

Commenting on today’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) bulletin looking at fraud in England and Wales, Josh Gunnell, our head of fraud & ID pre-sales said:

“Overall we’re seeing levels of fraud remain relatively unchanged, and that’s perhaps thanks in part to greater awareness of scams and social engineering, as a result of widespread advertising campaigns. That said, plastic card fraud has risen, according to analysis spanning recent years from UK Finance, shared within today’s ONS bulletin.

“A significant proportion of this increase has been attributed to remote purchase fraud which rose 15% over the last year. These incidents typically involve card details being fraudulently obtained through unsolicited emails, telephone calls or digital attacks, and then used to undertake fraudulent purchases over the internet, phone or by mail order. This sort of fraud often aligns with increases in retail spending, such as last summer when the World Cup and good weather led to retail performance exceeding expectations, or the Christmas period which is always an opportunity for fraudsters.

“With over half of the reported incidents in the 12 months to September 2018 thought to be cyber-related, and data breaches remaining a serious concern, it’s clear that greater vigilance is needed to protect consumers from online fraud.  It’s an ongoing battle for businesses and they need to continually review and enhance their fraud controls in order to try and stay a step ahead.”