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By Felicity Ussher, 16 July 1999 00:30

NEWS Equifax claims to have hit the front in the race to develop software to spot online fraud during the course of a transaction - but says it's still waiting for research partners. The credit ratings agency has launched what it claims is the first research project in this field, via its Knowledge Engineering subsidiary. But it said it can't start the project without retailer support - both to provide raw data and purchase the completed product. Although credit card companies have long relied on analytical tools to identify potential fraud in shops, the patterns of fraudulent online sales are, as yet, unknown. David Soutwell at the British Retail Consortium told Silicon.com: "It will require hefty investment even to reach a pilot trial. So companies are sounding out the market first." While Equifax is the first to pour money into research, ICL has also canvassed US customers on the issue. Equifax Group director, John Mitchell, said banks and mail order companies would happily contribute their raw sales data to build up a profile of online fraud. "Once one retailer raises their security standards, the rest of them will have to follow suit, because otherwise the fraudsters will start targeting them as the easy option," he said. But Mitchell admitted his team of 12 expert statisticians in Chicago is still waiting for an online retailer or mail order company to provide its first feed.