Barclays declares fightback against fraud
BARCLAYS customers will be given greater controls over how their cards are used as the bank declares a new fightback on fraud.
The bank is launching a new £10m advertising campaign alerting people to the risk of fraud in the digital age.
Its advertising will include information targeted towards younger people and those living in urban areas – who could be particularly at risk.
The bank said customers using its mobile banking app would now be able to instantly turn off and on the functions that allow their card to be used to make remote purchases – which includes the ability to use the card to make online, in-app, mail order and telephone purchases. They will also be able to set their own daily cash machine withdrawal limits.
If a fraudster gains access to someone’s card details, they will often use them to go on a spending spree online.
Ashok Vaswani, chief executive of Barclays UK, said: “As a society, our confidence in using digital technology to shop, pay our bills and connect with others has grown faster than our knowledge of how to do so safely. This has created a ‘digital safety gap’ which is being exploited by criminals.
“I believe the need to fight fraud has now become a national resilience issue, and we all need to boost our digital safety levels in order to close the gap.”
He said people should take action to protect themselves, such as by changing their passwords regularly.
He added: “I want to help make digital safety as commonplace as locking your front door.
“I want businesses, the police and the public to unite and stand shoulder to shoulder together so that we can block and frustrate the bad guys at every turn.”
The bank’s research suggests a quarter (25%) of people in the UK have experienced a cyberfraud or scam in the past three years. But nearly a fifth (17%) of people who have been a victim of a fraud or scam take no action to boost their digital defences as a result.
Laura Flack, Barclays head of digital safety, said: “Crooks are using ever more sophisticated tactics to trick people into handing over their bank details.”
Barclays estimates that if people follow these three tips, it could help to cut levels of fraud by up to 75%:
Never give out your full online banking Pin, passcode or password to anyone – even a caller claiming to be from the police or your bank.
Do not click on any link or open an attachment on any email you receive which is unsolicited.
Avoid letting someone you do not know have access to your computer, especially remotely.