Account Takeover Cases Hitting UK Courts Soar 57%

The number of account takeover (ATO) cases going to court in the UK climbed 57% in the first half of 2019 as cybercrime continues to professionalize, according to KPMG.

The consulting giant’s biannual Fraud Barometer report has been analyzing crime trends in the UK over the past 30 years, specifically major fraud cases being heard in Crown Courts, where charges top £100,000.

It claimed hackers are using a variety of techniques to grab personal identity data which then allows them to hijack victims’ online bank and credit card accounts: across email, SMS and mobile apps.

However, the law is slowly catching up – at least when it comes to bank account takeover.

“The Cyber-Attacks (Asset-Freezing) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/956) entered into force in June, and requires banks to repay funds to customers stolen as a result of account takeover,” explained KPMG's UK head of investigations, Roy Waligora. “Whilst this is a very positive step for the customer, we all need to remain vigilant as consumers will continue to bear such costs indirectly.”

ATO is also rife across consumers’ digital lives, of course, with hackers using phishing, credential stuffing and brute forcing techniques to crack everything from email inboxes to Uber and Netflix accounts.

The report also highlighted the continued commercialization of cybercrime, facilitated by the underground economy and dark web-based partnerships.

In one case, a Tyneside man was jailed for 28 months at Newcastle Crown Court after fronting a classic tech support scam designed to trick panicked u ..

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