More than £1bn fraud losses in six months

New figures have found that fraud losses in the UK increased to over £1bn during the first six months of the year, which is almost the same as the whole of 2008. [20 July 2010]

These new reports come from BDO’s Fraudtrack analysis, which is based on all reported fraud cases of over £50,000.

The average value of a single fraud fitting into Fraudtrack’s criteria has increased to almost £6m, an increase from £5m the previous year.

Fraud losses £1bnThe latest Fraudtrack analysis found that some sectors and regions were most at risk:

• 49% of all fraud investigated under Fraudtrack was in the finance and insurance sector
• mortgage fraud accounts for a fifth of all reported fraud and 36% of fraud in the finance sector
• third party customers and suppliers are responsible for 17% of all reported fraud on businesses
• internal management ‘cooking the books’ has led to 16% of reported fraud
• London and the south east continues to be the hotbed of fraud activity, accounting for 71% of all fraud
• Wales has experienced 15% of fraud in the last six months, compared with only 2% last year.

Prevalent frauds include insider dealing, management setting up ‘companies within companies’ and diverting lucrative contracts away from the company to third party accomplices.

Read more about the latest Fraudtrack figures on BDO’s website.

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To report a fraud, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.

See also:
Corporate fraud
Insider dealing
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