Counter-fraud

The TaxPayers’ Alliance has long called for fraud to be a priority of ministers. Waste is bad enough, but precious resources being misdirected through criminal means makes a mockery of the record-high tax burden households are currently paying. And too little is being done about the dramatic rise since the pandemic. A recent hearing of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) took a closer look under the bonnet. The findings weren’t pretty. The government’s annual reports estimate that fraud against the taxpayer rose from £5.5 billion to £21 billion over the two years since the start of the pandemic as compared to the two years leading up to it. Covid led to erratic and expensive action being taken without allowing for the proper safeguards to be put in place. Since then, government looks to be falling behind. A recent report by the National Audit Office (NAO) on progress in combating fraud found that “fraud made up 41 per cent of all recorded crime, but less than 1 per cent of police resources were devoted to tackling it”. Crime has shifted into the digital world, it is time for our government and law enforcement to do the same.

https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/tackling_fraud_not_a_pretty_picture

• It's investing £900 million in an attempt to save £2.4 billion by 2024-5
• He said: 'The area of crime that is increasing – 40 per cent of crime – is fraud'

Criminal gangs who commit benefit fraud were put on notice last night by work and pensions secretary Mel Stride.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/we-ll-use-ai-to-thwart-benefits-fraud-gangs-who-cost-uk-billions-says-mel-stride/ar-AA1djzze

Fraudsters' tactics are becoming increasingly complex, with more complaints about scams being escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service, new figures have found.

The service, which can be asked by consumers to step in if they cannot reach an agreement with a financial firm, said that in the 2022-23 financial year, it received 21,918 fraud and scam complaints.

https://uk.style.yahoo.com/fraudsters-tactics-becoming-more-complex-074700631.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

The number comes out of a study conducted by Juniper Research. On top of the predicted £284.9bn global merchant losses between now and 2028, the report predicts that £71.6bn will be lost in 2028 alone.

https://www.digit.fyi/online-payment-fraud-to-hit-284-9bn-in-predicted-losses-by-2028/

Scams have become a sad fact of life in Britain today. Research suggests that, so far this year, 40 million of us have been targeted. With the ongoing cost of living crisis, losing any amount of hard-earned cash to a fraudster could be all the more devastating. The emotional impact can often be even worse.

https://www.itv.com/news/2023-06-29/scam-britain-how-to-stay-safe-itv-tonight

Businesses and their legal, compliance and HR teams should use World Whistleblowers Day on Friday 23 June as the spur to review the effectiveness of their organisation’s ‘speak-up’ and reporting mechanisms, according to experts at Pinsent Masons.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/world-whistleblowers-day-review-speak-up-reporting-mechanisms

GBG, the expert in global digital identity, is warning that fraud in the UK is rapidly becoming industrialised. It has found 40 per cent of UK businesses reporting known or suspected fraud attempts in the last 12 months. Globally, almost half (49 per cent) of the businesses that reported fraud attempts say it has increased in the last year.

https://thefintechtimes.com/despite-customer-faith-in-biometrics-only-28-of-businesses-use-biometric-checks-finds-gbg/

With the increased sophistication in fraudulent practices and especially with high value transactions, it is even more important to not only be sure you know who is party to that transaction but to also have a digital forensic trail to support and verify this.

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/associate-news/how-a-digital-forensic-trail-can-help-reduce-fraud-when-completing-high-value-transactions

A group of the UK’s largest banks have told Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that big tech firms should help contribute to the reimbursement of fraud victims.

https://www.cityam.com/banks-tell-sunak-that-big-tech-firms-need-to-do-more-to-tackle-fraud/

People need to take greater “personal responsibility” to protect themselves against fraudsters, Suella Braverman said.

The Home Secretary highlighted a Government target to reduce fraud by 10% from 2019 levels by the end of 2024, but said that a “culture change” in the public was also needed.

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2023/06/14/people-need-to-take-responsibility-for-protecting-against-fraud-says-braverman/