Trust is a fragile thing. I count myself as fortunate not to have knowingly been defrauded on the internet, but from all that I hear it is only a matter of time before it is my turn. Extra transactions on my credit card statement, a large transfer out of my current account or a complete identity theft. The spectrum of possibilities makes one edgy to say the least.

I am always aware of the dangers and whenever I do an on-line purchase, I pride myself that I might know enough about the methods of internet fraudsters not to be easily caught out. Today I was making an on-line purchase at work, using my company credit card. The personal risk is somewhat less, I suppose, but this did not make me any less wary. Having entered the card details and clicked the confirm button there was a very brief display saying transaction confirmed, or words to that effect, then the whole browser window was taken up by a “Verified by Visa” page (see below). So now I am being asked to enter my credit card details again, into what looks like a pop-up window. And this is for my own security? How am supposed to know if this is genuine or not? Why would they ask for the credit card details again?

So either this is a scam or, it seems to me that Barclaycard have got it very wrong!