Frauds

Laura Suter, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, comments on UK Finance’s fraud report for the first half of 2023:

“So-called authorised push payment fraud has hit its highest levels on record, with the number of cases rising by 22% in the past year. More than 116,000 cases were recorded in the first half of this year, as scammers ramped up their efforts. However, the silver lining to this is that the amount returned to victims hit its highest rate. Of the money lost, 64p in the £1 was returned to victims, following the introduction of the voluntary code of conduct introduced by the industry, but it remains that a third of losses are not reimbursed and have to be footed by the individual.

More than half a billion pounds was lost to fraud in the UK over the first half of the year, while the number of authorised scams jumped by more than a fifth, according to new data.

Criminals stole £580 million through authorised and unauthorised fraud over the first six months of 2023, UK Finance revealed.

Holidaymakers have been warned against making fraudulent travel insurance claims ahead of the half term break this week.

What’s known as ‘opportunistic fraud’ makes up 85% of all travel insurance scams and is descried as when people who aren’t involved in organised crime attempt to make a fast buck with a fake claim.

Police are warning the public about a scam where fraudsters pose as online retailers, after a 90-year-old almost lost thousands of pounds.

Courier fraud - where a fraudster phones their victim and claims to be from their bank, the police or a company - is on the rise in the North East, officers from the Economic Crime Unit have said.

Online grocery retailers are being hit by a triple whammy of fraud as the cost of living crisis bites, according to a new report from Ravelin.

A key risk factor for most merchants in the sector is the rise of friendly fraud, which includes chargebacks, promotions and policy abuse by retailers’ own customers.

https://londonlovesbusiness.com/retailers-hit-by-growing-fraud-during-cost-of-living-crisis/

Police have warned online daters of the risks of fake celebrity profiles after a woman lost around £5,000 to a romance fraudster posing as TV chef James Martin.

Nottinghamshire Police said the scam is part of a trend where fraudsters pose as celebrities on dating profiles in a bid to lure fans.

Two women were arrested following eight reports of courier fraud in East Lancashire this month.

Victims were defrauded out of nearly £100,000 worth of cash or valuable items during these incidents.

A 26-year-old woman from West Bromwich was stopped on the M6 and arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation on Wednesday evening (October 12).

Online daters are being warned about the dangers of fake celebrity profiles after a Nottinghamshire woman was duped out of thousands of pounds by a romance fraudster posing as TV chef James Martin.

The woman believed she was exchanging messages with the ITV star via Facebook and lost about £5,000 in the scam.

Victims of romance fraud in Surrey have lost almost £2 million to “callous” criminals in just a year, says Police and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend.

Between September 2022 and September of this year, 170 reports of romance fraud were made to Surrey Police, and 191 reports from Surrey residents were made to Action Fraud.

A new free phone number for the food fraud hotline has launched to make it easier for people to speak up and share their concerns.

The Food Standards Agency's (FSA) new number is aimed at helping those working in the food sector to share potential food crimes "freely and confidentially".