Financial

Convictions for investment fraud in England and Wales have slumped to their lowest level since 2007, with just one in 700 incidents convicted in 2019.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/investment-fraud-convictions-slump-lowest-060000761.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its business plan for 2021-22, setting out its priorities for the coming year as the regulator seeks to keep up with changes in technology and adjust to economic challenges.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/fca-business-plan-innovative-assertive-adaptive-future

Revised guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) suggest that it has toughened its stance against regulated firms in England and Wales that fail to disclose suspicions of money laundering.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/analysis/cps-signals-tougher-approach-uk-regulated-sector-enforcement

Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, has been issued a warning by the UK's financial regulator.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57632831

Police are warning the community to be vigilant to the devastating impact of investment fraud after a Nottingham man lost £200,000 through a Bitcoin scam.

https://westbridgfordwire.com/warning-after-nottingham-man-loses-200000-in-bitcoin-scam/

Bank transfer scam victims face a “lottery” over whether they will be reimbursed and without more transparency from banks people will continue to be treated unfairly and inconsistently, according to Which? 

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/banks-publish-transfer-scam-reimbursement-230100615.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

NEW YORK (AP) — Epic Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernard Madoff is dead. But the effort to untangle his web of deceit lives on.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/even-madoffs-death-unwind-epic-112327591.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

Two individuals have been sentenced to a total of 19 years in jail for their roles in a £36m boiler room fraud.

https://www.ftadviser.com/investments/2021/06/01/pair-sentenced-over-36m-investment-fraud/

Several recent reports support the fact that investment frauds and scams are rising fast in the current economic climate. Criminals involved have been quick to leverage the lockdown and adapt to new ways of targeting their victims and also to new markets. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Action Fraud reported that Forex and crypto scams had more than tripled during the lockdown. Investment fraud in 2018-19 amounted to over 27 million and new reports indicate that Investment frauds accounted for losses of £63 million. The report refers to the changing methods used by the fraudsters; in one year 5,039 victims mentioned being approached through a social media platform, with Instagram leading the way with 35.2% and Facebook close behind with 18.4% of the scams arising through their sites. There are, however, still direct approaches being made.

https://www.giambronelaw.com/site/news-articles-press/library/articles/scammed-in-a-forex-fraud-how-to-counter-the-rise-of-fraud?utm_source=Mondaq

If 2020 wasn’t bad enough, some experts believe the COVID-19 pandemic is creating the perfect conditions for an increase in Ponzi schemes. Here’s some advice on how best to deal with this type of fraud and why these schemes persist.

https://www.fraud-magazine.com/article.aspx?id=4295013415&mkt_tok=NDEwLUhZTC01NzkAAAF9bDqsm7_uDidbvXM6yp87hjyUXBLY3zV_J4f9xoAJuPXowq_xgUhmsJPmSjDtm8TLyZrjzUVqnRQqMfXYIXpPOfri-59Y2-uiC5HxJgJuI46V#.YLfr1vEd7To.twitter#.YLfr1vEd7To.twitter