Fraud prevention
The UK Cards Association manages a range of activities aimed at preventing card fraud and protecting card users. We work in conjunction with law enforcement, retailers, the Home Office and bodies such as Crimestoppers to combat all types of card fraud. This joined up approach enables us to be effective in tackling the organised gangs behind the majority of card fraud losses.
Our key initiatives to prevent, detect and deter card fraud include:
- Financial Fraud Action UK
- Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU)
- Payment Industry and Police Joint Intelligence Unit (PIPJIU)
- Fraud Intelligence Sharing System (FISS)
- Industry Hot Card File (IHCF)
Financial Fraud Action UK
The UK Cards Association works in partnership with Financial Fraud Action UK to communicate its messages on card fraud prevention.
Financial Fraud Action UK is the name under which the financial services industry co-ordinates its activity on fraud prevention - in order to present a united front against all types of financial fraud.
Financial Fraud Action UK provides a single cohesive industry voice through which The UK Cards Association and other partner organisations can promote the range of activities in which they engage to prevent financial fraud and protect cardholders.
The new web site (www.financialfraudaction.org.uk) will be launched in early 2010 but in the meantime www.cardwatch.org.uk provides tips for cardholders to help prevent them from becoming a victim of card fraud.
Back to topDedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU)
The Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU) is a special police unit fully sponsored by the banking industry with an ongoing brief to help stamp out organised card and cheque fraud. It is comprised of officers from the Metropolitan and City of London police forces who work alongside banking industry fraud investigators.
The main objectives of the Unit include: ‘to investigate, target and, where appropriate, arrest and seek the successful prosecution of offenders identified as responsible for organised cheque and payment card crimes.’
As of December 2009, the DCPCU has been responsible for more than £340million in savings from reduced fraud activity and has arrested more than 450 criminals. Over 90% of prosecuted cases have led to a conviction.
Please visit the DCPCU website for further detail (www.dcpcu.org.uk)
Back to topPayment Industry and Police Joint Intelligence Unit (PIPJIU)
The PIPJIU is an integral part of the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU). This intelligence unit is the result of the amalgamation of the banking industry's Fraud Intelligence Bureau (FIB) - the body that formerly distributed information between the banking industry and law enforcement throughout the UK - and the intelligence section of the DCPCU.
It provides an efficient approach to the collation and dissemination of fraud intelligence to police forces throughout the country and has wider reaching responsibilities to address all types of banking fraud; not just cheque and plastic card fraud. As with the DCPCU, The UK Cards Association co-sponsors this initiative.
Back to topFraud Intelligence Sharing System (FISS)
The Fraud Intelligence Sharing System is a central, shared database used for disseminating information on all confirmed, attempted and suspected fraud across the industry.
The system provides a secure and robust reporting mechanism that supports the industry’s long-term fraud prevention strategy. The creation and development of FISS was co-funded by The UK Cards Association and currently sixteen of our members are using it to share fraud information.
Back to topIndustry Hot Card File (IHCF)
The IHCF contains information on more than 6 million credit, debit, charge and cheque guarantee cards that have been reported lost or stolen and on average 20,000 new cards are added to the file each day. During 2007 and 2008, over 700,000 cases of attempted fraud were prevented by this system.
More than 80,000 retailers subscribe to this electronic file. When a participating retailer accepts a card payment as part of a normal transaction, it is automatically checked against the file, and the retailer is alerted if the card’s details match any of those on the system.
The IHCF is increasingly being used by online, mail order and phone based retailers that operate in the card-not-present environment, and has provided a mechanism for checking card details prior to the goods being dispatched. The IHCF is also being used successfully at motorway tollbooths in France to combat the use of stolen UK cards at road tolls.
All major UK banks and card issuers as well as Visa, MasterCard Europe, Maestro, American Express and Diner’s Club provide continuous updates to the file.
The UK Cards Association acts as administrator to the IHCF system and co-ordinates any future enhancements or modifications.
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