ReD (Retail Decisions), a  blue chip international payment fraud prevention group, is predicting a 9% decrease in CNP (card not present) fraud in the first six months of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.

CNP fraud reached an estimated GBP122 million, a reduction of approximately 9% compared with the first six months of 2009 when CNP fraud losses totalled GBP134 million  (UK Payments Administration 2009 figures).

ReD, with 20 years experience in the fraud prevention arena, predicts that card-not-present fraud could reach an estimated value of GBP242 million by the end of 2010, down from GBP266 in 2009, as more fraud is being foiled.

According to a ReD, the international payment fraud prevention group’s press release, online shopping has never more secure thanks to strategies put in place by retailers to beat card crime. They predict that there will be fewer attempts by criminals to fraudulently buy items from websites, by mail order or by phone in the UK this year, compared with 2009.

UK consumers , according to ReD, are becoming more security savvy and aware of the tricks that fraudsters use such as such as phishing - when an email that appears to be from a genuine company asks for a customer's account details or malware infection from Trojan links that monitor keystrokes to obtain personal information and passwords.

It’s not all good news however as fraudsters quickly change tactics. ReD shows how the value of an average transaction has increased by 24% compared to the same period last year, from GBP61 to GBP7.

More information can be found on the ReD website.