Cash: The end of the era of pickpockets and bank robbers

With plastic money now dominant and people choosing digital payment methods, incidents of theft on Britain’s streets have fallen dramatically because fewer people are carrying cash, a Virgin Money executive said.

CFO Clifford Abrahams told The Telegraph that traditional forms of financial crime, such as street robbery and bank robbery, were being replaced by more sophisticated digital methods involving artificial intelligence.

“Bank robbing is a dying industry because there is no more cash. Even in bank branches, the use of cash is declining or in money transfers, people no longer carry cash. Even people on the street, robbing people to take their wallets…”

Recent figures support Mr Abrahams’ view, with the latest crime survey in England and Wales showing that street theft is 21% lower this year than in 2019/20.

“Fraudsters are early adopters of this technology and we have to stay one step ahead of them.”

Digital theft

His comments came as Virgin Money revealed plans to spend £130m to combat bank fraud that uses artificial intelligence technology to hack into people’s bank accounts.

The digital lender, which has about 6.6 million customers, plans to hire more staff and spend more on software over the next three years in a bid to combat cybercrime.

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly effective at recreating the voices, fingerprints and videos used in security checks in banking apps, increasing the risk that criminals will commit fraud more easily.

Mr Abrahams said this prompted Virgin Money to implement tougher measures: “Fraudsters are early adopters of this technology and we need to be one step ahead of them. You would be surprised at how clever some of these fraudsters are at bypassing your mobile phone passcode to steal your phone’s identity and use it to access your accounts.

The bank plans to invest around £40m a year over the next three years to combat fraud, with most of it spent on software and technology consultants.

source: Ot.gr