Credit card fraud could fund terrorism

The UK's security services believe that money generated from some credit card scams is being used to fund overseas terrorism.

Al-Qaeda could be among the groups being funded by the fraudulent activity, the Daily Mirror reported.

The Terror Finance Unit, a security service which combats the scams, has advised banks to take action on the "low-level" fraud.

According to the report, the financial firms have now launched a "crackdown" on the matter.

An anonymous source told the newspaper: "The banks have been told and they have responded promptly and positively."

Basic credit card scams include phishing attacks, which see fraudsters pose as official organisations in the hope of extracting credit card details from victims.

Commonly, bank customers are encouraged to enter their card numbers on an online form in order to gain access to an advertised service.

This information is then used by the criminals to drain existing accounts or take out new credit cards.

Recent analysis from Get Safe Online suggested that 23% of UK internet users know someone who has fallen victim to phishing over the past year.