Cyber crime costs small firms up to £5,000 a year

Feb 23 2009 By The Journal

ONLINE fraudsters are costing small businesses an average of £800 a year, with some suffering up to £5,000 of damage at the hands of cyber criminals.

Internet-based attacks like phishing for bank details, card fraud and IT problems caused by viruses and hackers, hit more than half of those questioned for an online fraud report put together by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

The study, called Inhibiting Enterprise: Fraud and online crime against small businesses, found that a third of the victims did not report the crime to the police or their banks because they lacked faith in the system’s ability to deal with it.

More than half said they needed more clear information about where and when to report it and 44% wanted a named contact in their local police force who specialised in this field.

Almost nine out of 10 said they would report fraud if there was an easily accessible centre to report to.

FSB spokesman Mike Cherry said: "E-crime is becoming an increasingly serious issue for small firms.

"The internet is a huge and unregulated area but businesses have to have confidence that there are at least some structures there to support them.

"Businesses are currently simply being left very exposed."

The organisation also wants the banks to take responsibility for informing businesses up front about the risks of card not present fraud.