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A University of Bristol study set to help reduce cybercrime impact of fraud in the e-payments sector

Press release issued: 16 October 2015

A study conducted by the University of Bristol Law School made recommendations to help tackle £450m fraud losses on UK payment cards

Launched at a conference for police officers from national and international agencies, and members of the payments industry, the study is the first phase of Project Skynet, a two-year EU-funded project, focusing on the increasing threat cybercrime poses to the UK’s payment industry.

The study produced in partnership with the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU) and with the support of Financial Fraud Action UK, specifically looked at the area of remote payments fraud, which was responsible for 66% of the £450m fraud losses on UK cards in 2013. It made recommendations on:
 
·       strategic direction of policing in the the e-payments sector;
·       stakeholder engagement and co-ordination;
·       police training;
·       intelligence capture and dissemination within law enforcement agencies.
 
Andrew Charlesworth, Director, Centre for IT and Law at the University and primary researcher for the study, commented;
 
The aim of the recommendations are to ensure regulation, legislation, training and action by law enforcement, industry and consumers are aligned and focused on the areas which will achieve the best prevention, detection and enforcement outcomes.
 
The second stage of Project Skynet will see the DCPCU developing and promoting sector-specific police training, and working closely with financial service providers and international partners to enhance anti-fraud co-operation, with the support of Europol’s European Cyber Crime Centre (EC3) and partners in law enforcement from Belgium, Finland, Hungary and Romania. 
 
Following the formation of a specialist intelligence cell, joint investigations will be launched to tackle organised crime impacting on the UK payments industry as the final phase of the project.
 
Project Skynet follows the success of Project Sandpiper, the DCPCU-led European Commission funded project which targeted Romanian Organised Crime Groups impacting on the UK.
 
This led to a series of police raids across the UK, which resulted in several members of a Romanian gang being jailed for stealing the bank card details of more than 60,000 people, using an array of sophisticated spying and skimming gadgets.
 

Further information

University of Bristol’s Centre for IT and Law

 
Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU) 
 
Financial Fraud Action UK
 
Europol EC3
 
Project Sandpiper
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