Victims of so-called 'Deliveroo fraud' report having their credit and debit cards emptied of many hundreds of pounds on food and drink orders they never placed, to addresses many hundreds of miles from where they live.

Deliveroo's standard response to claims of a security breach has left those affected with a bitter taste in their mouths, suggesting victims look to their own security failings instead.

The first a victim knows of the fraud is when they receive an email from Deliveroo confirming an order has been placed.

Deliveroo insists that its own systems have not been the subject of a hack or data breach; instead, the firm advises that customers should not reuse passwords and usernames across multiple online accounts.

Sound advice on its own, but a critical mass of Deliveroo victims all suffering the same fraud might suggest that Deliveroo should look again at its own security measures.

Regardless of how fraudsters are accessing Deliveroo customers' accounts, there are further security issues that should be addressed as a matter of urgency:

• Smart fraud prevention mechanisms, if present at all, appear to be ineffectual here. Purchases that are so out of character - such as those highlighted in the show - should easily be picked up by automated systems and subjected to additional verification.
• Similarly, a change of delivery address should also trigger additional verification - a PIN sent to the account holder's smartphone, for example.
• Deliveroo chooses not to authenticate customer card payments with a CVV2 code.

The Card Verification Value is one of the names given for the additional security numbers printed on the signature strip or front of the card. Deliveroo is far from the only retailer to forego 'card not present' security - Amazon, with its 1-click purchase, is another. However, this lack of verification allows fraudsters to place orders on credit cards that are not theirs with no challenge at all.

Deliveroo's light touch on security can be put down to one thing: sales. Here's how skimping on security benefits Deliveroo's bottom line:

• When we buy something, the more hoops we have to jump through to make that purchase, the more likely we'll drop out and go somewhere else.
• Understandably Deliveroo wants to make placing an order with them as simple a process as possible by cutting out as many hoops as it can.
• However, some of those hoops are there for reasons of security; in removing those, Deliveroo is not only making it easier for its customers to place an order, it's making it easier for them to be defrauded.

Watchdog airs on BBC1 tonight at 8pm. Watch a clip of the Deliveroo story here.