As a new project is helping banks and building societies deliver customers with a means of making payments using only their mobile phones, Action Fraud is warning all mobile phone users to be fraud safe.
More than 45 million of us use a mobile phone and the mobile phone is the number two item that we wouldn’t leave home without, second only to taking a means of payment such as a wallet. This is why the Payments Council has launched an industry-wide project to help customers send money using only their mobile phone, either via text message, an app, or using the phone’s internet browser.
The project will focus on transferring money from one account to another – so mobile phone users could pay another person or a business, and differs from recent launches which allow phones with built-in card technology to mimic a contactless card payment.
Initial research suggests that 23% of consumers are likely to want to use a new mobile payments service.
Be fraud safe on mobile phones
The new project coincides with the fact that more people than ever are using their mobile phones to do more than just make phone calls.
Action Fraud is warning mobile phone users that while mobile phones can make life easier, carrying more personal data on these devices can increase the fraud risk if the phone falls into the wrong hands.
Mobile phone users should activate security features on their phones, such as adding a password.
Mobile phone users should also think twice about saving their card PINs and passwords to online accounts on their phones.
Read more about the Payment Council’s project on the Pay Your Way website.
Please note: Action Fraud is not responsible for the content on external websites.
To report a fraud, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.
