(2004/C58E/005) WRITTENQUESTIONE-1116/02
byAstridThors(ELDR)totheCommission
(18April2002)
Subject:Creditcardfraudine-commerceinEurope
Creditcardfraudreportedlycausedlossesin2001ofoverEUR900millioninInternettradingintheUSA,
i.e.theequivalentof1,14%ofonlineshoppingturnover.Themethodsofcommittingthefraudvary;bogusservicesandshoppingsitesaresetup,databasesarehackedintoandinformationonsalesvouchersexploited.TheNordeaBank’swarningtoitscustomersnottouseMastercardforonlinepurchasesalsoattractedmuchattention.OneofthereasonsforthewarningisthathackersintheUSAhavegainedaccesstoserversonwhichcustomers’creditcarddataisstored.
DoestheCommissionhaveanideaoftheamountoflossescausedbycreditcardfraudinEurope?What
furthermeasuresdoestheCommissionintendtotaketoincreasesecurity?HasCybercrimeForumlookedintothismatter?
AnswergivenbyMrBolkesteinonbehalfoftheCommission
(20June2002)
TheCommissiondoesnothaveprecisestatisticsonthecurrentlevelofcreditcardfraudone-commerce
transactionsintheUnion.
TheCommissionFraudPreventionActionPlan(
1)statesthattheproceedsfromalltypesofpaymentcard
fraudwereestimatedatEUR600millionintheUnionin2000(whichroughlycorrespondsto0,07%ofthepaymentcardsturnoverintheUnioninthatyear).Themaintypesoffraudwerebyfartheuseofcounterfeit,lostorstolencreditcardsatshopsorautomatedtellermachine(ATMs).Creditcardfraudone-commercetransactionsonlyaccountedforalittlepercentageoftheaboveamount.
Creditcarddetailsmaybeobtainedbycriminalsinmanyways,includingbyhackingintodatabases.
The Commissiondoes nothave precise statisticson the overall scale ofillegal access to informationsystems. Because of limited awareness and experience among system administrators and users, manyintrusionsarenotdetected.Inaddition,manycompaniesarenotwillingtoreportcasesofcomputerabuse,toavoidbadpublicityandexposuretofutureattacks.Forthisreason,thenumberofintrusionsthataredetectedandreportedalmostcertainlyunder-representsthefullextentoftheproblem.Manypoliceforcesdonotyetkeepstatisticsontheuseofcomputersandcommunicationsystemsinvolvedinthesecrimes.However,theseproblemshavediminishedoverthelasttwotothreeyears,andthegatheringofstatisticsonillegalaccesstoinformationsystemsisgraduallyimproving.
TheCommissionistakingactiontoincreasethesecurityofpaymenttransactionsonline.Improvementsin
securityarethemainpriorityoftheFraudPreventionActionPlanwhichaimstofacilitatetheintroductionofthehighesteconomicallyviablelevelofsecurityforpaymentinstrumentsandsystems,especiallyonlinepayments.ThePlanisbasedonapartnershipamongallstakeholderstopreventfraudandcounterfeitingofnon-cashpayments.Itprovidesforfivemainareas(Securityofpayments;exchangeofinformation;cooperation,trainingandeducationalmaterial;otherspecificfraudpreventionmeasures;andcooperationwith third countries) and 11 main actions that the Commission and other parties should undertake,includingspecificactionstoimprovethesecurityofpaymentproductsandsystems.
DiscussionsonsecurityissuestakeplaceregularlyatthemeetingsoftheUnionFraudPreventionExperts
Group,thesteeringgroupfortheimplementationoftheFraudPreventionActionPlan.Thesediscussionsalsocoverpreventativemeasuressuchasminimumsecurityrequirementsforonlinemerchantsacceptingpaymentcards.6.3.2004EN C58E/5 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion
TheCommissionrecentlylaunchedastudywhichaimstoprovideanobjectiveassessmentofthesecurity
ofremoteelectronicpayments(egfundtransfers,remotepaymentbycardandmobilepayments)intheInternalMarket,withaviewtopossiblyenhanceconsumerconfidenceine-commerce.ThecallfortenderforthisstudywaspublishedinJanuary2002.Thetenderprocedurehasbeencompletedandthestudywillbecommittedsoon.Finalresultsareexpectedbytheendof2002.
Also,basedontheresultsofthestudy,theCommissionwillorganiseearlyin2003aConferenceonthe
security of payments in the Internal Market, with a view to improve informationon the security ofmodernpaymentproductsandsystemsintheInternalMarket.
InadditiontotheFrameworkDecisionof28May2001combatingfraudandcounterfeitingofnon-cash
meansofpayment(
2),actiontoincreaseInternetsecurityhasalsobeenundertaken.On19April2002the
CommissionproposedaFrameworkDecisiononattacksagainstinformationsystems(3).ThisFramework
Decision addresses the new most significant forms of criminal activity against information systems,including illegal access to information systems. The Framework Decision encourages and promotesinformationsecurity,whileensuringthatEurope’slawenforcementauthoritiescantakeactionagainstthisnewformofcrime.
TheCybercrimeForumhasnotdiscussedissuesspecificallyrelatedtocreditcardfraud,butheldextensive
discussionsontheproblemofillegalaccesstoinformationsystems,whichresultedintheproposalfortheFrameworkDecisionmentionedabove.
(1) Communication from the Commission ‘Preventing fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment’,
COM(2001)11final,of9.2.2001.
(2) OJL149,2.6.2001.
(3) COM(2002)173final.
(2004/C58E/006) WRITTENQUESTIONE-1220/02
byDanielaRaschhofer(NI)totheCommission
(29April2002)
Subject:ManagementoftheErasmusandSocratesprogrammes
ComplaintsaboutthemanagementoftheErasmus/Socratesmobilityprogrammehaveincreasedrecently.
Particularly the local management of the programmes gives rise to organisational problems, anduncertaintiesoverwhetherexamswillberecognisedarealsocommon.
Aretheredetailedrulesstipulatingwhichexamscanbetakenabroadforeachsubject,andwhichexams
mustberecognisedbythehomeuniversity?
Aredecisionsmadeinadvanceonwhichexamswillberecognised?Whodecideswhatisrecognised,and
whichcriteriaareused?
WhichexamscanforexampleberecognisedwhenanAustrianlawstudentparticipatesinanErasmus/
SocratesprogrammeinSpain?
HowdoestheEuropeanUnionmonitortheuseoffundinginthisarea,andisthereareportonthe
subject?Ifso,whichcriteriaaremonitored,andwhereisthereporttobefound?
AnswergivenbyMrsRedingonbehalfoftheCommission
(6June2002)
ItistruethattherehavebeenrecognitionproblemsforstudentsparticipatinginErasmusalltheyearsthat
Erasmushasexisted,inspiteofthefactthatrecognitionofperiodofstudiesisaprerequisitefortheexchange.TheEuropeanCreditTransferSystem(ECTS)hashelpedagreatdealbutproblemsstillremain.C58E/6 EN6.3.2004 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion