A police chief's suggestion that banks should consider no longer refunding some online fraud victims has been branded as "astonishingly misjudged" by a consumer group.

Metropolitan Police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said that the system "rewards" the public for being lax about internet security. He said a rethink might alter behaviour over passwords and security software. Consumer group Which? said the burden of protection should lie with banks. "With online fraud increasing, this is an astonishingly misjudged proposal from the Met Police Commissioner," said Which? executive director Richard Lloyd. "When we investigated last year, we found too often that banks were dragging their feet when dealing with fraud. The priority should be for banks to better protect their customers, rather than trying to shift blame on to the victims of fraud."