Fraud Fears in Internet Banking 1.Introduction Dissertation

Fraud Fears in Internet Banking 1.Introduction - Dissertation Example Banking industry is no different; banking operations and processes have become more accessible and convenient for the customers due to the introduction of internet banking. Banking operations are no longer restricted to the limited business hours of the bank, rather can be done at any time via the internet. However, this technology has also proved to make customers’ details and intellectual assets of the companies vulnerable in the presence of increasing security threats from hackers and intruders. Internet frauds related to the banking sector have become major concerns for customers around the world. Some of the most common online banking frauds have been discussed in the paper, along with the discussion of few real life instances of such crimes. 2. Internet Banking Internet banking offers a wide range of activities like balance inquiries, transfer of accounts etc. The acquisition and transfer of customer details and information on the internet makes the whole process vulnerable, along with the presence of internet scams that aim to steal the information of customers. Financial institutions have suffered great losses over the years by becoming victims of malicious activities of cyber criminals. Cicutti (2008) quoted the results of a research study by Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs); it concluded that instances of ‘cardholder not present’ are increasing around 37% after every year. The losses reached to an enormous amount of ?290m in 2007. These figures include fraudulent attempts via the internet, mail and phone. Few other figures have been reported by Financial Fraud Action UK in Sky News (2009); it pointed out that only first half of 2009 marked a 55% increase in the rate of internet banking frauds with the figur e of ?390m as compared to the figures for the year 2008. The alarming increment of internet banking crimes denote that the cyber criminals are getting more technology savvy who are adopting innovative technologies to overcome the security measures of the financial institutions to violate the privacy of the customers’ data. Internet banking has been widely accepted by customers due to its convenience. Spam Laws (2009) stated that around 45% of the 141 million grownups in US opt for online payment of their bills. Along with convenience, comes a huge price for the customers who prefer online banking. Spam Laws (2009) also provided the information that around 2 million Americans became victims of fraudulent actions in the year 2004, where customers were reported to suffer losses of around $1, 200 on average at every instance of fraud. After the analysis of the findings, it was concluded that the increasing number of fraudulent actions were known to have the source as online banki ng. 2.1 Types of Internet Frauds There are numerous types of internet banking frauds. Few of the most common ones have been discussed below: 2.1.1 Phishing/ Scam Emails The concept of phishing originates from two words; password and fishing. Zin andYunos (2005) explained that this technique is used to retrieve customer’s bank details by making the activity look like a regular procedure from his respective bank. Several types of information may be aimed to be extracted by the user, such as social security numbers, online banking credentials, credit card numbers etc. The sender might pose to be a bank officer who wants to update the customer’s data in the bank database. Recipients might reply to such emails with the understanding that it is a

Direct　Marketing　Sales　and　Promotion Essay

Direct　Marketing　Sales　and　Promotion - Essay Example mpanies are at a dilemma as to how to increase their brand equity, operating within a business environment where most companies are focused on brand building and thus, strong brands are not necessarily a competitive advantage anymore. With the increased advertising clutter and shifting market demographics with highly fragmented consumer needs, the traditional dominance of mass media in todays, promotional strategy is declining. This essay aims to analyse the growth of Direct Marketing in today’s communicational mix and to identify both desired and unintended effects of direct marketing activities. The essay will further focus on the challenges in designing and deploying effective direct marketing campaigns, which are creative and exciting enough to compete with the overall advertising clutter competing for consumer attention. When considering the communication mix options available for marketers today, the highly developed communication industry coupled with the wide spread use of Internet has provided new means of interactive marketing such as web sites, online stores, and a host of other innovative and informative means such as CD Rom catalogues and Video screens in supermarkets, altering the traditional mix of promotional tools drastically. These wide choices have not only increased the reach of the communication mix but also reduced the cost per reach significantly. The biggest advantage of these new modes of communicational tools lies in being able to be highly focused and directed to the desired segment of consumers. Within these changes in promotional strategies, a notable development is the increased importance placed on direct marketing. Environmental forces such as political, economic, social and technological factors driving such growth of Direct Marketing is worth analysing in order to understand why direct marketing is becoming an increasingly popular mode of communicating with the consumers. More and more companies are embracing the paradigm shift