Frauds

High-value watches that are reported stolen or linked to insurance fraud are taken overseas via airports to be resold, according to intelligence gathered by the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).

Acting on the intelligence, IFED coordinated a two-day operation at Heathrow Airport on 6 and 7 November 2024 to help disrupt the practice.

"We're too busy chasing new tech"

With a new insurance fraud charter announced at the latest Joint Fraud Taskforce meeting, insurance companies are coming together to crack down on fraudsters manipulating the UK insurance market. But what’s the extent of the issue facing the market – and what are the challenges keeping even fraud prevention and mitigation specialists awake at night?

https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/uk/news/breaking-news/what-are-the-challenges-keeping-insurance-fraud-specialists-awake-at-night-513861.aspx

A carer pretended to be dying from cancer in a £143,000 fraud on a pensioner with dementia and her 96-year-old husband, a court has heard.

April Jo Richardson span a web of lies to extract money from the victim and her husband, to splash out on a lavish lifestyle including trips to Barbados, New York and Spain.

Aviva has reported that nearly one-third (30%) of young drivers have unknowingly purchased invalid car insurance from illegal operators on social media platforms, according to a survey of 2,000 drivers in the 17-25 age bracket.

The scam, known as ghost broking, involves fraudsters posing as legitimate insurers, selling fake or invalid policies to young drivers and those facing difficulties obtaining insurance.

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