How To Beat Rising Fraud

It's crime, but at least it's organised. Still, we shouldn't make it too easy for them, eh? Here are nine tips to defeat fraud.

When I read about fraud I hold up my hands in the shape of a 'w' and say, 'Yeah, whatever'. What I don't do is consider seriously enough all the different types of fraud that can happen to me, especially as I use online banking.

Through various devious means, fraudsters are stealing our personal details, and ultimately our money: about £400million of it a year, in fact.

Thanks to Chip and PIN it's harder for criminals to use stolen cards in shops. However, other fraud crimes are on the rise. APACS reported a 16% increase in counterfeit cards from January to June, for example. The total counterfeit-card fraud was £53m.

One thing I am good at is Internet passwords; I don't write them down anywhere. Also, they're all CIA-beating eight to twelve characters of random numbers, and lower and upper-case letters.

I am now particularly glad for my spooks-level paranoia, because APACS reported today that online banking fraud is up 55% to £22.5m in the first half of this year.

One particular kind of online bank fraud is 'phishing', which lures people to fake websites via email and then convinces us to type in personal details. In the first half of this year, phishing incidents rose by 1,471%!

It seems likely that many of these criminals are resourceful and organised gangs. I'm constantly being sent emails from a so-called Barclay's Bank. It must require a lot of work to obtain the emailing list, put the fake website together, collate the data received, and to find an efficient way to make criminal use of it.If only they had someone with good English skills, it might have worked.

Right, so now that we all know that fraud must be taken seriously, here are some precautions we can take:

• Don't tell (or email) anyone your PINs and passwords, and keep your personal information secure. In particular, don't disclose these details in response to unsolicited emails claiming to be from your bank or the police.
  
  
• Install up-to-date anti-virus software and a personal firewall.
  
  
• Look out for those clever devices that are put over real cashpoint machines. The police say you should look for signs saying that neighbouring ATMs are broken, as they may have been put up by fraudsters who are trying to make you use their fixed one.
  
  
• When entering your PIN in a shop or a cash machine, use your spare hand to shield the number from prying eyes or hidden cameras.
  
  
• Everything about a fake website, including the URL address, may look real. Don't click through links to banks or shops that are sent to you in an email. Instead, type in the address, go through a search engine or use your favourites.
  
  
• 44% of us still let our cards out of sight (in restaurants and bars for example), which means that unscrupulous employees can copy our card details. I make this mistake, but not anymore! No more bar tabs (boo! shame!) It's cash every time.
  
  
• Only divulge your card details in a telephone transaction when you have instigated the call and are familiar with the company.
  
  
• Check that a website address changes from http to https before making a purchase, as this indicates you're in a secure site. Also, ensure that the security icon (a locked padlock or unbroken key symbol) is showing in the bottom of your browser window.
  
  
• Destroy, preferably shred, any documents or receipts that contain personal financial information when you dispose of them.

Finally, the real banks are stealing from you too with their unlawful charges and their terrible interest rates. Say 'Wha-ever!' to them, compare current accounts and then switch through The Fool.