Share this:

• Email to friend
• Facebook
• Twitter

Consumers caught up in facility takeover fraud, when bank accounts are stealthily hijacked by criminals, have spoken of their ordeal.

According to CIFAS - the UK's fraud prevention service - fraudsters have been changing tactics since the onset of the recession, with facility takeover now rivalling identity theft as the most popular method of getting hold of people's cash via dishonest appropriation.

The group reports that in 2008, the number of reported facility takeover fraud cases shot up 207.32 per cent, with the number of people affected by the crime surging from 6,106 to 19,290.

And with the current economic constraints expected to drive fraud figures even higher, CIFAS is urging Britons to keep their wits about them to avoid falling prey to this often scary and damaging crime.

A stressful ordeal...

In a report published by CIFAS, facility takeover fraud victim Peter Ayres said that being targeted by criminals has been harrowing for both himself and his partner.

The couple's joint account was virtually cleaned out by fraudsters after a series of smaller transactions were taken out over a period of around six weeks. He told the group that the attack on their funds had come as such a shock that his partner was forced to take time off work due to stress.

"It's been crippling and has taken so much effort to get sorted out. We're still not there yet. My partner went into panic attacks and I feel quite paranoid," Mr Ayre said.

Meanwhile, Selina Hall, who was targeted by fraudsters who used her credit card details to go on an online spending spree, said that she has been left feeling that no-one can be trusted.

Luckily for Ms Hall, the money spent by the criminals was returned to her after a diligent call from her credit card provider, which had viewed the three-day spree as suspicious and asked her to confirm that she had spent the cash before authorising the transactions.

However, she says she has been left shaken by the experience, uncertain of whether she can use her bank accounts and credit cards safely.

"I've always been worried about having my details stolen and being impersonated, but in this case they did not even have to go to those lengths. I've been left wondering who broke into my accounts and how? I feel trapped," she told CIFAS.

...And a growing problem

Over the past few years, criminals have made a shift towards facility takeover fraud as applying for new credit cards and loans using stolen personal details has become more difficult.

With tightened security monitoring all new bank account, credit card and personal loan applications, crooks are increasingly looking to take hold of existing accounts, often by obtaining passwords and other details by targeting people over the internet.

One such method, known as phishing, has become increasingly popular in recent years, and CIFAS warns people to be on the lookout for suspicious emails appearing to originate from a financial institution or some other reputable source.

Such phishing attacks are often characterised by demands for credit card and bank account details and other personal information for "verification processes" or some other purportedly legitimate cause.

Banks remind their customers that they will never ask for such information over the phone or by email and ask their customers to treat any such solicitations with extreme suspicion and alert their lender to the message.

Meanwhile, Greg Day, principal security analyst at the IT company McAfee, has told the BBC that consumers must take responsibility for staying safe online, as criminals are devising ever more elaborate methods to dupe people into providing credit card details and other sensitive information.

"Cyber criminals out there are trying to infect us so they are going to all places that we go. They'll try to hide their threats in genuine websites or set up fake websites to look like genuine websites," he warned.

Keeping safe online

Although the internet has ushered in an era of simplicity and convenience that is coming to be relied upon by many millions of people around the globe, security experts urge consumers to take the same kind of precautions as they would in the real world when surfing the web.

As Tony Neate, a spokesperson for Get Safe Online, surmises:" You wouldn't dream of leaving your house with windows open or with the door open. It's exactly the same with a computer."

In order to safeguarded personal details from online crooks, Mr Neate advises investing in antivirus and antispyware software and keeping it up to date in order to make sure that PCs remain protected as criminals think up ever more elaborate fraud strategies.

Enjoyed this article?

Sign up today to the Know Your Money weekly newsletter for the latest in money savings deals and advice. Registration could not be easier, just fill in the form below.