The Payment Industry and Police Joint Intelligence Unit (PIPJIU) will be staffed by five banking industry fraud specialists working alongside 10 officers and staff from the City of London and Metropolitan Police.
The unit will have a remit to tackle cheque and plastic card fraud, which has a huge impact on retailers, as well as other types of banking frauds.
PIPJIU is an amalgamation of the banking industry’s Fraud Intelligence Bureau and the intelligence section of the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU). The new unit will support the work being carried out by DCPCU, which has recovered more than 244,000 counterfeit cards and card numbers since its creation in April 2002.
In addition, payment association Apacs has unveiled the Fraud Intelligence Sharing System to allow the banking industry to share information on all confirmed, attempted and suspected fraud in a central, shared database. This will also provide what Apacs described as a secure and robust reporting mechanism to support fraud prevention.
DCPCU head John Folan said: “The combined investment by the banking industry in the DCPCU, the enhanced joint intelligence unit and the new data sharing system totals almost£5 million a year.
“With this increased funding and a wider remit, our primary objective is to build on the successful work undertaken by the banking industry and the DCPCU in combating fraud.”
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