Frauds

Pensioners are being urged to be vigilant after a spate of courier frauds in the east and south of the UK, including one case where a victim lost £5.3 million.

Reports to Action Fraud, the national fraud and cybercrime reporting service, have shown that members of the public have been contacted by criminals purporting to be either from the police or from their bank, claiming that the victim’s account has been taken over by fraudsters.

Last year I was the victim of a banking scam. For a while, it appeared that I had lost everything, but luckily the perpetrator was so eerily accomplished at mirroring the bank’s technology and phone numbers that they agreed I wasn’t at fault and the money was refunded to me.

Becky Holmes, a popular presence on Twitter, has written a book about a different sort of fraud, one much more personally invasive and traumatic than the kind I experienced. She writes about romantic fraud, in which a perpetrator assumes a false identity – in more outlandish frauds, sometimes posing as a celebrity (there’s more than one Keanu Reeves out there) – to woo another person online, eventually using the relationship to extort money and gifts.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/revealing-revolting-look-world-online-110000720.html

The Lettings Hub, the referencing and PropTech provider, has announced that it will host a free-to-register webinar this week to shed light on the rise of attempted tenancy fraud in the UK.

Agents are being warned that as rental costs continue to rise, some tenants may find themselves in a challenging predicament, leading some to resort to desperate measures, including falsifying information to secure a tenancy.

In June 2023 we published a blog article discussing the Payment System Regulator’s policy statement creating a new reimbursement requirement for Authorised Push Payment scams. On 19 December, the PSR published an APP scams reimbursement policy statement (PS23/4) setting out final sets of requirements alongside the relevant legal instruments to give effect to the policy and other helpful materials and guidance. This is particularly important given the October 2023 APP scam fraud performance report which suggests that even where these PSPs are reimbursing victims of APP scams on a voluntary basis, there are currently inconsistent outcomes for customers who report APP fraud to their PSP. Furthermore, there are weak controls that are exploited by fraudsters, and there is still more to be done to address gaps in controls to prevent such fraud by in-scope firms. The policy start date is confirmed as 7 October 2024 which is recognised as a challenging target.

https://kpmg.com/uk/en/home/insights/2024/01/nine-months-left-to-prepare-for-mandatory-app-scam-reimbursement-requirements.html

Romance fraud happens when you think you’ve met the perfect partner online, but they are using a fake profile to form a relationship with you.

The fraudster gains your trust over a number of weeks or months and has you believe you are in a loving and caring relationship. However, the criminal’s end goal is only ever to get your money or personal information.

A lettings agent has admitted eight counts of fraud following prosecution by Wigan Council’s trading standards.

Linda Murray, former director of Wigan-based Let Me Lettings, was charged under the Fraud Act 2006.

A fraudster from Sydenham who posed as a police officer to steal thousands of pounds from elderly and terminally ill people has been jailed.

Kawsar Ahmed, 25, from the Sydenham Hill Estate, was part of a group of six men who targeted thousands of potential victims across the country by telephone.

A benefits cheat who faked the identities of almost 200 children to pocket public money has been ordered to repay more than £2million.

Ali Bana Mohamed, 42, has three months to return the cash or face a nine-year prison sentence, the Department for Work and Pensions said.

Billed as a “game-changer” and providing a significant change in gear in the UK’s fight against corporate crime since the Bribery Act 2010, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023.

The Act represents a marked shift in how law enforcement bodies will deal with the scourge of fraud. Although the Act will strengthen anti-money laundering powers and reform Companies House, it is the approach to corporate criminal liability and its amending of the ‘directing mind and will’ test that has many querying how it will affect their businesses.

Two men who pretended to be police officers and preyed on elderly victims, forcing them to hand over more than £400,000 have been jailed.

Mohammed Zaman Ahmed, 26, and Kawsar Ahmed, 25, were sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court on Tuesday 19 December for a combined total of more than seven years for fraud.