Concern as soaring number of fraudsters pose as customer to gain control of accounts

FRAUDSTERS’ TAKEOVERS of customer accounts in the UK has soared by 45 per cent in the past year, according to figures released by fraud prevention service Cifas.

The number of so-called facility takeovers, when a fraudster poses as a genuine customer to gain control of an account, rose to 22,525 in the UK in 2016 compared to 15,497 in the previous year.

Cifas released the figures after analysing more than 325,000 recorded fraud cases.

They warned that any account could be taken over by fraudsters, including bank, credit card, telephone, email and other services.

More than 50 per cent of the facility takeovers recorded were carried out over the phone.

The data, from 387 organisations including many major UK brands, found that identity crime and facility takeover remains the biggest threat, making up 60 per cent of fraud.

Some 88 per cent of identity fraud was carried out online, compared with 30 per cent of facility takeovers, the annual report found.

Cifas said the increase in facility takeovers was a sign that criminals were fooling individuals into revealing personal details in response to increased security for customer accounts.

Cifas chief executive Simon Dukes said organisations prevented £1bn of fraud last year, adding: “We are now seeing that the advances made in securing online access to customer accounts have led to fraudsters targeting the human being at the end of the phone.

“Using old-fashioned but highly effective con artistry, they are tricking individuals into giving away their personal details and deceiving call centre staff into making transactions on their victims’ accounts.

“The proliferation of personal data that is available either online or through data breaches only makes this easier. Cifas figures for the region reveal there were a total of 23,275 recorded frauds in the region last year.

“A total of 13,119, 56 per cent, were identity crime and facility takeover frauds.”