Fraud warning | new card scam nets £1m in four months

Bank customers are falling victim to a new and sophisticated type of credit card fraud which has increased threefold since the beginning of the year.

Victims are telephoned by fraudsters and duped into revealing their PIN and then handing over their bank card to a courier in this new form of crime, which has seen more than £750,000 taken from customers since the beginning of the year.

The scam involves a person being called by someone claiming to be from their bank. They are told that their debit or credit card needs collecting as it needs replacing following fraud on their account.

The caller often suggests that the person hangs up and calls the bank back if they want to ensure the call is genuine, but stays on the line, tricking the person into thinking they’re calling their bank. The criminal will then ask the person to key in their PIN number, before sending a courier to collect the card. The victim is told the card is going to the bank to be changed but it is actually delivered to the fraudster to use along with the PIN obtained during the scam.

DCI Paul Bernard, head of the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit, said: “Many of us feel confident that we can spot fraudsters but this type of crime can be sophisticated and could happen to anyone. While we have seen an increase in this type of fraud, we know collectively we can stamp it out. “If you become a victim of this type of crime, you should contact your bank in the first instance. If you have friends or relatives who you feel may be vulnerable to this, please help them to be more aware of the potential risks and what to look out for. Remember, if you are the innocent victim of card fraud you will not suffer any financial loss.”

More than £1.5m has now been lost to this crime, with the same amount £750,000 stolen in the first four months of 2012 that was stolen during the whole of 2011.

The Payments Council found in a survey of account holders that more than three quarters feel confident that they would be able to spot a fraudulent telephone banking call. However, after hearing how the card fraud phone scam works, over half of the 4,000 people surveyed were surprised by how sophisticated it was, one third worried they were more vulnerable than they thought and four fifths felt that anyone could be a potential victim of the fraud.

Mr Bernard said that customers should follow some simple tips to avoid being a victim. These include making sure you can hear the dial tone when you call your bank, and never handing over your card. Your bank or the police will never ring you and tell you that they are coming to your home to pick up your card, so never hand it over to anyone who comes to collect it.

He added that your bank will never ask you to authorise anything by entering your PIN into the telephone. The only times that you should enter your PIN are at a cash machine or when you use a shop’s chip and PIN machine.

Article Source YahooUk

Gates backs continued funding for U.S. military operation in Libya

Outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday it would be a mistake for Congress to cut funding for U.S. military operations in Libya.

"I think, once we have our forces engaged, to deny them funding would be a mistake," Gates told PBS News. U.S. allies -- particularly the British, the French and the Italians -- consider Libya a vital interest, and "our alliance with them is a vital interest for us," he said, citing their efforts in Afghanistan.

Progress has been made toward the U.S. goal of ousting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi from power, Gates said. "Based on everything we see, the government gets shakier by the day. His forces have been significantly diminished. The opposition is expanding the areas under their control."

But, he acknowledged, "I don't think anybody can predict when he will and/or leave."

Gates was appointed to the job 4-1/2 years ago by President George W. Bush, and continued to serve in the role under President Barack Obama. He is slated to retire June 30.

But Congress has expressed impatience with the pace of the NATO military effort, which got under way three months ago to protect peaceful anti-government demonstrators in Libya. Republicans have accused Obama of having violated the War Powers Act by not having sought congressional authorization for the military intervention within 60 days -- a deadline that has passed.

Obama said last week that he did not believe he needed the approval because the U.S. military role is limited. But that didn't placate some House Republicans.

"I believe -- and I think most of my colleagues believe -- that the president has failed to make his case as to why we have engaged in Libya," House Speaker John Boehner told reporters Thursday. "I think the strategy was flawed from the beginning. As I said then, I understand the humanitarian mission, but the idea that the rest of the strategy was to hope that Gadhafi would leave begged the question of well how long are we going to be there?"

But, the Ohio Republican added, "I don't want to do anything that would undermine NATO or to send the signal to our allies around the world that we are not going to be engaged. This is primarily a fight between the Congress and the president over his unwillingness to consult with us before making this decision."

During a trip to Jamaica on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dismissed fears of a quagmire and said the mission should not be abandoned now.

Clinton said the Libyan opposition has made "very clear progress" in its political organization, as well as in its fight against forces loyal to Gadhafi.

"But the bottom line is, whose side are you on?" she said to reporters. "Are you on Gadhafi's side or are you on the side of the aspirations of the Libyan people and the international coalition that has been created to support them?"

"For the Obama administration, the answer to that question is very easy."

Boehner said Wednesday that the GOP-controlled House will not back a resolution sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, expressing congressional support for limited American involvement in the NATO-led military campaign in Libya.

McCain's resolution, introduced Tuesday with Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, authorizes the commitment of U.S. forces for a year, while stressing the lack of support for any use of American ground troops.

McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee and a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, said he believes Obama "did the right thing by intervening (in Libya) to stop a looming humanitarian disaster."

House leaders are preparing to hold a vote on the McCain-Kerry measure, but are also considering another resolution that would strictly limit U.S. involvement in Libya to a noncombat role.

Clinton testified Thursday on the matter in private session before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Top Obama economic adviser to leave

Austan Goolsbee, a longtime adviser to President Barack Obama, will resign his post as the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers this summer to return to teaching at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, the White House announced Monday.

Obama called him "one of America's great economic thinkers."

Goolsbee has been the face of the White House on economic news, and is a regular every first Friday of the month explaining the administration's take on the latest jobless numbers.

He brought a mix of levity and a teacher's sensibility to the job, using the White House blog, Facebook or YouTube to illustrate tax cuts, trade, or the auto industry resurgence on a dry-erase board with a dry wit and a gravel voice. He has been at Obama's side for years. He advised Obama during his 2004 Senate race and was senior economic policy adviser during the 2008 presidential campaign and has served on the three-member economic council since the start of the administration.

"Since I first ran for the U.S. Senate, Austan has been a close friend and one of my most trusted advisers," Obama said. "Over the past several years, he has helped steer our country out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and although there is still much work ahead, his insights and counsel have helped lead us toward an economy that is growing and creating millions of jobs."

Goolsbee took over last September as council chairman, replacing Christina Romer, who left to return to a teaching position at the University of California, Berkley.

He had taught at the University of Chicago for 14 years. His university biography once described him as "insanely committed to his work," noting that Goolsbee was seen in the classroom, wearing a tuxedo, on the day of his wedding.