• silicon.com
• Technology
• Security

By Peter Warren, 18 April 2001 00:01

NEWS According to one survey, 95 per cent of those buying over the web expect to be the victims of fraud, a statistic silicon.com considers must be challenged by the creation of a UK version of the US Internet Fraud Complaints Centre (IFCC). And that's what the Fighting Fraud campaign aims to achieve. According to a month-long investigation carried out by silicon.com, e-crime is a largely unknown area due to chronic under-reporting, a trend massively exacerbated by the absence of any complaints forum in the UK. At the moment, many of those wishing to complain are being forced to the IFCC - complaints which the authorities in the UK, including the police, are dismissive about. The Association of Payment Clearing Services reckons that online losses by the credit card industry are only nudging two per cent, a figure accepted by a Home Office spokeswoman contacted by silicon.com. But according to our own research, many of those suffering a loss seldom report it, a finding backed up by the IFCC, which has seen a massive increase in fraud reporting since its creation last year. This trend is also in line with recent police experience, which has shown that instances of particular crimes rapidly increase when proper reporting mechanisms are put in place. Poor reporting of crime has bedevilled the computer and high-tech industry throughout its history, whether it be hacking or computer crime. Internet fraud is one area where consumers and businesses cannot only be supported, they can also be encouraged to give the computer industry itself a lesson in the value of proper reporting, while at the same time giving a much needed boost to faith in ecommerce. "Secure ecommerce is the life-blood of the internet and doing anything that shores up the public belief in the internet is good for ecommerce, good for the internet and good for the technology industry," said Ian Jones, UK editor in chief of silicon.com.