This article was no surprise. It is alarming that online fraud is still not a priority and the reliance is often on the individual to protect themselves and not become a victim in the first place.
As the article suggests there are good practices developing around fraud detection and prevention but as long as criminals can find comfort in hiding behind a computer there seems to be a lot of catching up to do to fight this ever increasing trend.
Not only is online fraud under-reported, but where data is available, there is a lack of sharing of information between government, industry and law enforcement agencies. There is, for example, no formal requirement for banks to report fraud or share reports with government. Measuring the impact of campaigns and the contribution government makes to improving online behaviours is challenging. The Department is evaluating the Take Five campaign, one of many campaigns run by the government and other bodies to educate people, but this will not be completed until March 2018. The growing scale of online fraud suggests that many people are still not aware of the risks and that there is much to do to change behaviour. In addition, different organisations running campaigns, with slightly different messages, can confuse the public and reduce the campaigns’ impact.
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