With the combination of recent world events and the coming of the Winter holidays, experts agree that fraud will be hitting many computers this year.

Internet experts are predicting a surge in online fraud over the festive season as record numbers of shoppers are expected to turn to the internet in search of Christmas bargains.

IMRG, the internet retail monitoring group, estimates that UK shoppers will spend £5 billion on 24 million online purchases over the Christmas period. The sheer volume of online spending has prompted criminal gangs to venture on to the internet in search of rich pickings from shoppers who fail to take the necessary security precautions with their card purchases.

Online card fraud has also been boosted by the success of chip and PIN in curtailing criminals’ ability to commit fraud at the point of sale, unless a victim’s PIN has been unwittingly disclosed. [Read the rest]

Tags: fraud, holidays, christmas, internet experts