Expats defeat bank fraud

Fraud

Credit card and bank fraud against international expatriates is decreasing according to latest figures.

Financial Fraud Action UK have released their figures for the first half of 2011, and they show that fraud against UK citizens who are living and working abroad has dropped by 24 percent.

A spokesman for the FFA said: "Initiatives such as chip and pin have made it harder to commit hi-tech frauds and criminals are instead reverting to more basic frauds centred around stealing people's cards and PINs. These scams range from distracting people in shops or at cash machines and then stealing their cards without them noticing, to simply tricking them into handing over their cards and PINs on their own doorstep."

However, it was noted that these decreases in criminal activity have not come without cost- “While these numbers look very encouraging, it is important to recognise the price customers have to pay for safe online banking. Two-factor authentication has now become common, with customers having to carry a keyfob or other device in order to log into their bank accounts. While this has lessened the risk of fraud, it has introduced an element of inflexibility into the system and should not be seen as a silver bullet”.