Apacs, the UK payments association has announced that as of October 20th a campaign will be launched to help consumers stay safe especially during the busy Christmas season.

The ‘Be Card Smart Online’ campaign has received the backing by both the banking and the retail industries as well as support from card companies Mastercard and Visa. The campaing will offer advice on how consumers can defend themselves against credit card fraudsters during the busy seasonal periods.

Tips on how to protect their personal computers which is the usual place many make their online purchases and payments will be included in the campaign. Advice on the different anti-virus programmes and other software available will be available and pointers will be given on how to spot reputable retailers on the internet as opposed to the rogue ones.

Apacs’ figures highlight the losses from ‘card-not-present’ fraud accounts for 54 per cent of all card fraud losses. That means that over half of the successful fraud attacks are done through online, mail order and phone shopping.