Online fraud has increased as the introduction of chip and pin has meant fraudsters are looking at online banking as an area to commit their crimes, says the UK's payment service Apacs.
Spokesperson for Apacs Mark Bowerman claims criminals will always look for other areas to exploit and other factors have contributed to the rise in fraud.
"There are other contributory factors as well, such as the number of transactions that we make online coupled with the number of businesses that now offer an online service," he comments.
Apacs has found that 15 million people in Britain now use online banking, with millions also shopping via the internet. However, one in four shoppers do not check if a web page is secure, while one in eight forget to log out of a website, potentially exposing their financial details to criminals.
Last week, Apacs announced that consumers are using personal cheques much less frequently to pay for goods. Consumer acceptance of online banking has meant financial institutions are now investing more time and money into ensuring swifter payments, the body suggested.






