UK Banks Fail To Report Low-Level Cybercrime

By Chanel Smith, EMEA Editor (@PYMNTS_EMEA)

Members of Parliament fear that the UK is suffering greatly from cybercrime because fraudsters are being given impunity from legal punishment. 

According to the Financial Times, MPs released a report by the home affairs select committee that revealed an unnerving amount of low-level fraud is resolved without being reported. British banks are paying back their customers for fraud losses. Yet instead of pursing legal enforcement, banks are sweeping these problems under the rug. Consequently, low-level criminals are making large profits while the country accumulates more losses.

“We are not winning the war on online criminal activity,” explained Keith Vaz, Labour chair of the committee. “We are being too complacent about these eWars because the victims are hiding in cyberspace.”

The committee is calling urgent attention to the issue, claiming that the small-scale operations are adding up. A cyber security firm in Britain, RSA, reported to the committee that online fraudsters were so unalarmed about being punished that they were openly making offers on social network sites. The firm discovered criminals were advertising access to credit card information, networks of hacked computers and  other illegal services, all through Facebook. The report indicated that there was substantial evidence supporting that a large number of low-level fraud activity was not being reported or legally enforced.

The Financial times cited one estimate projecting that the UK loses £27 billion each year to online crime. The committee is reportedly concerned the problem will continue to grow if no action is taken. It stated that current government regulations and the country’s criminal justice system is unsatisfactory and needs improvement in how they treat fraudulent crimes. 

The Financial Times reported that members are demanding banks to report all online crime activity—small and large—to appropriate law enforcement facilities. Government security chiefs are taking action as well and recently wrote letters to various corporations across the country, asking chairmen to check their online security systems.

Adrian Leppard, the City of London police commissioner, stated, ” We are not winning the war on eCrime. I do not think we are winning globally and I think this nature of crime is rising exponentially.”

To read the full article at The Financial Times click here.