British banks are becoming increasingly reluctant to help victims of Internet fraud as new rules added to the Banking Code signal less willingness to cover losses.

The updated code, which covers the banks' treatment of customers, says The Times, came into effect last month and states that victims of online fraud must have up-to-date antivirus and antispyware software installed, plus a personal firewall, to claim redress from their banks. If you fail to have the correct protection in place, the banks are increasingly likely to refuse any claim for a refund. The more hardline stance has been introduced as figures reveal that cases of fraudsters trying to steal bank details using bogus e-mails has tripled over the past year. Watchdogs say that there were 10 235 reported cases of phishing in the first three months of the year, against 3 394 in the first quarter of last year.
Full report in The Times


Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are being targeted by cyber criminals. As improved spam filters and sceptical consumers make bogus e-mail less successful, scam artists are taking advantage of the atmosphere of trust that exists within these online circles of friends. Symantec, a tech security firm, recently reported that 91% of the bogus US-based Web sites used in so-called phishing attacks during the second half of 2007 imitated the log-in pages of two unnamed social networking sites - believed by industry executives to be the two biggest, MySpace and Facebook, says the Los Angeles Times. In more organised campaigns, scammers distribute free widgets that purport to help users decorate their profile pages but secretly use the log-on information to spam their friends. Other crooks surreptitiously install software that records keystrokes to steal financial data, or they use personal details gleaned from the profiles to make e-mail fraud attempts more credible. One common technique on social networking sites involves sending messages that appear to come from an online buddy, inviting the recipient to check out a new profile page. The page then asks the recipient to log in. Although the page looks as if it's on MySpace or Facebook, thieves have set it up to capture log-in names and passwords.
Full Los Angeles Times report