Counter-fraud

The Cumberland Building Society has strengthened its commitment to protecting customers from fraud during International Fraud Awareness Week.

The society aims to empower individuals and businesses by spreading awareness about common scams, providing tips for safeguarding personal information, and stressing the importance of swift action if fraud is suspected.

The building society seeks to raise awareness of common scams, provide tips for safeguarding personal information, and highlight the importance of taking action if fraud is suspected.

A new offence of ‘failure to prevent fraud’ is a good start, but if we really want to stop this crime we need better incentives for whistleblowers, says Dr Alison Cronin

Earlier this month the government published its guidance on the new corporate ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence, from the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, which will come into force next year.

The Home Office deserves some credit. Unlike the attribution of corporate liability for the substantive offence of fraud itself, for which it is necessary to show that senior managers or directors were involved or knew about the fraud, the new failure to prevent offence is suitably broad. Instead of relying on just senior managers or directors, it holds large organisations to account where an employee, agent, subsidiary, or other “associated person” commits a fraud offence. Liability can be imposed where the organisation did not have reasonable procedures in place to prevent the offence and the fraudster intended to benefit: the organisation, its clients, or indeed just the fraudster themselves if their actions also benefitted the organisation.

The UK may look to follow the lead of the US in introducing a whistleblowing reward scheme in a bid to combat corporate crime.

US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco recently announced a new Department of Justice-run corporate whistleblower rewards pilot programme, highlighting the critical role whistleblowers play in uncovering corporate misconduct. The new pilot programme also aims to encourage more corporate self-reporting.

Virgin Media 02 has called on the new Labour government to appoint a dedicated minister for fraud and set up a centralised, specialised national body to handle investigations.

The telecom giant has argued that current law enforcement resources regarding fraud “remain inadequate” despite fraudulent activity representing 40 per cent of all crime in the UK.

In this series, CSW provides a guide to professions and functions across the civil service. Each briefing looks at a different group, offering a glimpse at what they do and how they work with other parts of government.

What do they do? Currently, the majority of officials working in counter fraud are investigators. However, since the launch of the profession in 2018, new pathways have been developed, supported by learning and development programmes, in areas such as assessment, measurement and leadership.

https://www.civilserviceworld.com//in-depth/article/a-guide-to-the-counterfraud-profession-and-function

Fraud remains a significant threat to the UK and those operating in the regulated financial industry.

Latest figures show that fraud accounts for 36 per cent of crime reported, with 3.2mn instances reported in March 24, according to the Office for National Statistics.

After well over a decade of fraudsters robbing people blind, finally we have some good news! The Payment Services Regulator (PSR) – the organisation in charge of the systems we use to pay for things in the UK – has announced that UK banks and other (but not all) money transfer services must refund people who have been defrauded up to £85,000. This money must now be refunded within five working days.

https://www.scotsman.com/business/consumer/is-battle-against-fraudsters-about-to-be-won-at-last-4819498

Action Fraud is warning people to provide an extra layer of protection and enable the 2-Step Verification (2SV) option, as more than 33,600 people had their social media or email accounts hacked in the last year.

Data from Action Fraud, the national fraud and cybercrime reporting service, shows that more than 33,600 people reported that their online accounts had been hacked from August last year, with victims losing a total of £1.4 million.

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/socialmediahacking

Global joined-up action is needed to tackle the scourge of fraud, a report is urging, with nearly one in five UK adults having fallen victim in the past three years alone. Nearly a fifth (18 per cent) of UK adults are estimated to have fallen victim to fraud between 2021 and 2023, according to a report.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-urged-lead-fightback-against-150201541.html

Bank payments could be delayed by up to three days under new rules that would give banks more time to investigate potential fraud.

The Government said it was proposing laws that will extend the time that payments can be stalled by up to 72 hours.

Currently, a bank has until the end of the next business day to either process of refuse a payment made by a customer.