Banks, not police to tackle fraud

Victims of card fraud have been told not to go to the police, but instead to place the case with their banks.

The change in the law, which will become active this Sunday, follows talks between the Home Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers and financial institutions.

Instead of presenting their banks with a crime reference number obtained from the police, customers who have been targeted by fraudsters will be required to inform their bank first and then it will be up to the bank to pass the details over to the police.

Where card fraud is part of another crime such as burglary or handbag theft, the victim should report the crime to the police.

Sandra Quinn, the communications director for the Association for Payment Clearing Services said that this move would streamline the process of dealing with card fraud.

Miss Quinn said: "This change simply removes an additional level of reporting and will provide greater consistency for the reporting of fraud losses in the UK."

However, security experts are not so sure.

Andrew Goodwill, managing director of the security firm Early Warning UK, told the Daily Mail: ‘The problem is that the fraud is increasing rapidly and the police just do not have the resources to cope.

"Rather than give the police the tools to deal with this, the Home Office has hived the problem off to the banks and tried to bury it."

He added that it will mean that banks can choose to report which fraud becomes publicised.