Small businesses warned about online fraud

Date: 14th October 2011

Small business owners operating online around the UK could be among those interested in the recent comments of one industry body.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has claimed that with criminals "hitting back" against falling credit card fraud numbers, smaller firms are at risk when taking online payments.

It comes after recently-published data from the UK Cards Association revealed that chip and pin technology has helped bring debit and credit card fraud down to an 11-year low.

However, at the same time, the number of incidents of criminals attempting to hack into consumer accounts or forge payments has increased.

Richard Bradley, the Forum's partner and adviser on merchant services, warned businesses that criminals are more than capable of adapting to new environments, meaning that the biggest threat now comes from online sources.

"Card fraudsters are like a virus in that they change and adapt to the conditions they face and it is important to be vigilant in order to minimise the risks of being hit," he said.

"These criminals are much less likely to target businesses in person via a chip and pin transaction and the majority of fraud is seen where the cardholder is not present, in other words mail order and online payments. The best advice is to be prepared."

Posted by Thomas Fletcher