Method for detecting potentially fraudulent activity in a remote financial transaction system

A method of operating a client computing device in a remote financial transaction system, the system further comprising a financial services server and the client computing device being configured for data communication with the financial services server via the Internet, the method comprising:

• running a web browser to display a web page for receiving transaction information from a user;
• communicating the received transaction information to the financial services server via the Internet in order to effect a financial transaction;
• and
• when transaction information is communicated to the financial services server, additionally communicating meta data relating to the configuration of the web page to a configuration data server via the Internet.

A method of operating a configuration data server, the method comprising:

• receiving meta data relating to the configuration of a web page from a client computing device;
• comparing the received meta data to a stored template of meta data for the web page;
• and
• on the basis of the comparison, determining whether the web page has been altered, and if the configuration data server determines that the web page has been altered, providing an indication that the web page has been altered.

A client computing device in a remote financial transaction system, the system further comprising a financial services server, and the client computing device being configured for data communication with the financial services server via the Internet, the client computing device being configured to:

• run a web browser to display a web page for receiving transaction information from a user;
• communicate the received transaction information to the financial services server via the Internet in order to effect a financial transaction;
• and
• when transaction information is communicated to the financial services server, additionally communicate meta data relating to the configuration of the web page to a configuration data server via the Internet.

A configuration data server configured to:

• receive meta data relating to the configuration of a web page from a client computing device;
• compare the received meta data to a stored template of meta data for the web page;
• and
• on the basis of the comparison, determine whether the web page has been altered and if the configuration data server determines that the web page has been altered, provide an indication that the web page has been altered.