E-tailers gang up on online fraudsters

NEWS The Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) has today unveiled its latest initiative in the war against e-tail fraud. The IMRG, the industry body for e-tailers, has established a 'warm card file service' for the industry that will enable retailers to share lists containing data about fraudsters, including their names, credit card numbers, and addresses. The IMRG Security Alert service echoes a number of similar services, and is scheduled to go live at the end of the month. E-tailers will be asked to pay £600 to gain access to the IMRG's existing fraudster database and to add their own information to it. The first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed by February 2003, after which time a new pricing structure will be introduced. James Roper, CEO of the organisation, said: "Many retailers have unofficially shared information about fraudsters with their competitors for years, but their information has been inconsistent and patchy, and therefore of limited value." IMRG's managing director, Jo Tucker, added: "Online fraud is costing retailers many millions of pounds each month and must be checked. Our aim is to reduce e-retail fraud by enabling UK merchants to share immediately usable intelligence about fraudsters quickly, safely and at low cost." Leading merchants that have already applied for the Security Alert service include Argos Direct, Blockbuster, Carphone Warehouse, lastminute.com, Petplanet.co.uk, Screwfix and Thinknatural.com. The service is part of IMRG's ongoing 'Fighting Online Fraud' initiative. For more information see: http://www.imrg.org/fighting-fraud A similar service, appealing predominantly to small businesses, was set up last month. Called Early-Warning (see http://www.silicon.com/a55685 for more) it offers businesses the opportunity to sign up for free to a community of traders in order to exchange the details of any fraudsters who try to steal from a member site.