“It’s much easier and more lucrative to steal on the internet than it is to go out and rob a bank.”
So claims MP Keith Vaz in a new report on cybercrime and fraud in the UK. This report shows that compared to other EU countries, UK citizens and retailers are prime targets for internet crime. Part of the problem is poor policing of online venues. A further problem for enforcement is the lack of methods for detecting fraudulent behaviour.
Online retail fraud grew by 23% in the UK in 2012, causing a £16.1 billion cost for retailers according to the National Fraud Authority’s 2012 report. However, Computer Weekly reported last week that 22% of retailers don’t know how much of their revenue is lost to online fraud, and 20% do not have anyone on the loss prevention team assigned to tackle the problem despite listing the lack of fraud detection and analytics tools as a top concern.
Research by the Clear Returns team has found that although fraudulent shoppers are typically 1% or less of the consumer population, they can be responsible for up to 10% of the cost of returns. Each of these shoppers cost the retailer an average of £1300 annually, although some individuals can cost up to £5000. Clearly more needs to be done to improve current methods of tracking customer purchases to enable retailers to distinguish fraud from activity by legitimate, high-value customers.
Posted by Data Ninja
