Fraudsters turn to takeover scams

16 June 2009

Scams in which criminals take control of someone else’s bank account or credit card are on the increase, the UK’s fraud prevention service has said.

According to CIFAS, instances of takeover fraud have risen by 75 per cent over the last 12 months.

Once fraudsters would use personal information to impersonate a victim and to agree loans or credit cards in their name.

But with financial organisations clamping down on the availability of such details, criminals are turning to a new type of scam that involves targeting existing accounts and cards.

While identity fraud has until lately been favoured by scammers, the current recession has seen an alarming swing to facility (or account) takeover fraud, CIFAS said.

Fraudsters often set up websites, based around popular current stories or events, or send out emails to unsuspecting victims. Visiting the websites or opening the emails can infect a computer with malicious software.

The software is capable of monitoring which other websites the user then visits and of reading passwords. Once the criminals have this information they are in a position to hijack bank accounts and credit cards, withdrawing money and making purchases.

Although the numbers of malware programmes are on the increase, people can take a series of quite simple measures to protect themselves. One is setting up an effective firewall. Anti-virus software, anti-spyware and updating the operating system are also important.