More than one in ten (12%) Britons have had to cancel a credit or debit card in the past year due to online fraud, according to new research by comparethemarket.com.
The latest statistics show a worsening state of affairs when it comes to cybercrime, with the number of people cancelling cards rising from 4.5 million to 5.5 million since the research was last conducted in September 2016. These findings further add to concerns that consumers’ money isn’t safe in the bank.
Out of the people who had money stolen because of a hack, the average amount taken rose from £475 to £600 compared to the last survey. Issues of hacking present a real problem for banks’ customer retention, as almost one in four customers who had money stolen changed, or are in the process of changing, bank or credit card provider. However, despite the lack of trust that stems from being hacked, customers are broadly happy with how cyber-attacks are dealt with. 91% of customers who were the victim of a hack being satisfied with the way in which the company handled the issue.
The largest cause of hacking was online payments, which accounted for 46% of those surveyed. Almost one in ten of those who were the victim of a hack had their card duplicated at an ATM, while identity theft accounted for 11% of hacks.
However, many customers also admitted that they are not doing enough to ensure that their accounts are safe. Almost one in five respondents said that they have the same PIN for all of their cards, while one in ten had the same online password for all of their accounts. When customers are the victim of a hack, attitudes tend to change. 93% of people changed the way in which they managed their money, with 50% looking at their bank accounts more frequently and 28% creating different PINs and passwords for cards and accounts.
To help consumers with their cyber safety, comparethemarket.com has created a password generator, to give people secure passwords that can help protect them online. The password generator can be found here.
Shakila Hashmi, Head of Money at comparethemarket.com, said:
“These are worrying findings. While banks and their customers are becoming wiser to the serious threat of cybercrime, this research shows that there is a lot more work to be done to stem the growing tide of attacks. Both the card provider and customer have a responsibility to protect their accounts from intrusion and theft. While banks need to improve investment in cybercrime defence, there are some things that people can do to protect themselves. Beyond making sure you have different PIN numbers for different cards and changing your password regularly, the most important thing is to check your accounts on a regular basis to look out for any criminal or suspicious activity, as in many cases small but regular thefts take place which are harder to spot."