Frauds

Organised crime behind 40% of motor insurance fraud in 2024.

A new report from Direct Line Group (DLG) indicates that organised crime rings account for 40% of motor insurance fraud in 2024, a significant jump from 25% in 2023. The findings point to increasingly sophisticated schemes, placing motorists and insurers on high alert as fraud levels escalate.

https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/uk/news/claims/there-is-an-epidemic-of-criminals-committing-insurance-fraud-513105.aspx

Action Fraud, the National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre, is reminding people that if they have been contacted out of the blue about their pension, it is probably a scam.

In 2023, there were 559 reports of pension fraud with over £17.7 million lost. The average loss per person was £46,959.

New research by car history-checking service CarVertical reveals that nearly 160,000 UK drivers could fall victim to mileage fraud this year.

With an estimated 1.9 million used cars changing hands every quarter, CarVertical's data shows that 2.1% of these vehicles have clocked mileage.

https://www.am-online.com/news/mileage-fraud-puts-nearly-160-000-drivers-at-risk-analysis-finds

A new car insurance update will crack down on measures that 'increase the cost of premiums for honest drivers'. A crackdown from the Labour Party government will protect motorists, road users and drivers, it is hoped, amid a spate of fraudulent car insurance claims.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) is currently investigating an eye watering and staggering 6,000 suspected fraudulent motor insurance claims, which include cash for crash scams. A new insurance fraud charter was announced at the latest Joint Fraud Taskforce with Lord David Hanson, Minister of State at the Home Office with Responsibility for Fraud, saying this week: "Fraud is an appalling crime, and we are determined to crack down on these callous criminals.

The Home Office has announced new insurance fraud charter to step up efforts to crack down on fraudsters seeking to manipulate the UK insurance market with bogus claims and duping innocent people into buying fake insurance policies.

In 2023 alone, 84,400 fraudulent claims worth £1.1 billion were detected by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), a 16 per cent increase in the number of detected claims compared to the previous year.

https://policeprofessional.com/news/major-new-crackdown-on-insurance-fraud/

Tickets which have broken the terms and conditions will be cancelled over the coming weeks, after they were sold at inflated prices on secondary websites.

https://www.itv.com/watch/news/crackdown-on-oasis-ticket-fraud-with-thousands-of-resale-passes-to-be-cancelled/xyvtcgw

More than 22 tonnes of luxury Cheddar cheese has been stolen from a London business in a "sophisticated fraud".

Bosses at Neal's Yard Dairy said the firm had lost clothbound Cheddar worth more than £300,000 after they were conned by a fraudulent buyer posing as a legitimate wholesale distributor for a major French retailer.

The Home Office has announced a new charter with the insurance sector to “crack down” on fraud.

The department said the voluntary agreement would target fraudsters “seeking to manipulate the insurance market with bogus claims and duping innocent people into buying fake insurance policies”.

https://www.cumnockchronicle.com/news/national/24676962.home-office-launches-new-charter-crackdown-insurance-fraud/

The Labour government’s latest plans at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Post Office scandal-scale disaster waiting to happen. Specifically, the department – with a rapsheet of failures to its name – now wants to not only snoop on benefit claimant bank accounts, but snatch money straight from them. It’s over DWP benefit fraud. Merchant of death and demonising rhetoric Liz Kendall was hinting at all this in the Telegraph – but obviously hasn’t put the wheels in motion on it – at least not yet.

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2024/10/21/dwp-benefit-fraud-telegraph/

Trowers & Hamlins secures a major High Court victory in a £45 million property fraud lawsuit.

International law firm Trowers & Hamlins has achieved a landmark victory in the High Court, successfully representing the claimants in the high-profile case 4VVV Ltd and Others v Spence & Others. The case involved a complex property fraud scheme, which saw 435 investors incur significant financial losses from investments in unregulated property ventures, including student accommodation and holiday homes across the UK. The High Court ruling in favor of the claimants marks a significant milestone, potentially paving the way for £45 million in damages.