Increasing cyber crime in the UK costs

Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK) has reported a cost of £174m to victims of social engineering in 2015. The number of victims increased 21% YoY, with cyber criminals increasingly using emails containing malware and social engineering to trick people into divulging sensitive information. Harvesting account or login information (phishing) is achieved through fake emails, telephone calls, social media posts and texts. Cyber criminals have become more sophisticated in their attacks, with over 95,500 phishing scams reported between in the year to end October 2015. According to GetSafeOnline 29% of reported phishing emails contained a potentially malicious link that could infect the victim’s computer, 17% requested a reply and 15% asked for personal information. Research suggests that cyber criminals receive between $20-$35 a piece for stolen credit and debit card information.

Phishing fraud continued to rise in 2015, with the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) and Get Safe Online reporting that the scams cost the victims £174.4 million.

Figures from the organisations found that the number of victims of phishing frauds rose 21% in just a year. A report by Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK) also found that fraudsters cost UK citizens £325.3 million in six months to June last year—a rise of 6% from £307.7 million over the same period in 2014, reported the Daily Mirror.

Raj Samani, CTO for Intel Security EMEA, told Infosecurity that this is not all that surprising. “In fact, recent research from Intel Security exposed price points for stolen data bought and sold in cyber-criminal marketplaces, finding the average estimated price for stolen credit and debit cards is $20 to $35 in the UK alone,” he says. “Cyber-criminals are becoming increasingly savvy and its important consumers understand this threat is very much a reality.

“Brits must to be wary of unexpected emails, even if they are cited as being from a brand they are familiar with. Think twice before acting, calling up your bank directly if you’re concerned about anything before taking action. We have to make sure we stay one step ahead of the cyber-criminals and caution is the best way forward here.”

Commander Chris Greany of the City of London Police said: “Fraudsters are using ever more sophisticated methods to gain personal information and these types of attempts have often left victims penniless. “We urge everyone who receives unsolicited phone calls, texts, emails or letters to ignore them and never enter into conversation with someone that you don’t know online or over the phone.”