The Chancellor has promised a “crackdown” on fraud in the welfare system but the Government’s plan to carry on with benefit reforms previously announced by the Conservatives to save £3 billon has been branded “bitterly disappointing”.

Rachel Reeves said she wants to ensure welfare spending is “more sustainable”.

Labour has previously said fraud and error in the social security system costs the Government almost £10 billion a year.

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/

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has reported there were approximately 3.6 million consumer and retail fraud incidents in 2024, a 19% rise for the same period in 2023.

Of these incidents, roughly 2.7 million involved a loss of money or property, where 1.9 million of those were fully reimbursed.

The incidents rose from 3.3 million in 2023. The ONS states this does not represent a statistically significant change, however, the rate of consumer and retail fraud was notable.

The Home Office has announced a new charter with the insurance sector to “crack down” on fraud.

The department said the voluntary agreement would target fraudsters “seeking to manipulate the insurance market with bogus claims and duping innocent people into buying fake insurance policies”.

https://www.cumnockchronicle.com/news/national/24676962.home-office-launches-new-charter-crackdown-insurance-fraud/

The Serious Fraud Office is working with City of London police to make it easier for victims to report fraud.

From Monday 28th October 2024, all fraud referrals – unless from companies or whistleblowers – should be made to Action Fraud, either online at www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime or via the call centre on 0300 123 2040.

This change brings us in line with all 43 national police forces in England and Wales and the National Crime Agency, supporting strong coordination between agencies to emerging fraud threats and building a better picture of fraud across the country.

Fraud remains a significant threat to the UK and those operating in the regulated financial industry.

Latest figures show that fraud accounts for 36 per cent of crime reported, with 3.2mn instances

https://www.ftadviser.com/fca/2024/10/21/both-challenger-and-traditional-banks-need-to-do-more-to-prevent-fraud/

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is set to gain new powers to directly access bank accounts and wages of suspected benefit fraudsters, as part of a major Government crackdown on welfare fraud.

Liz Kendall, Work and Pensions Secretary has unveiled plans to update the department's "outdated" investigatory tactics, which have remained unchanged for two decades.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/dwp-set-to-take-money-straight-from-bank-accounts-and-wages-in-benefit-fraud-crackdown/ar-AA1sAnC8#:~:text=Under%20the%20new%20legislation,%20DWP%20investigators%20will%20be,to%20seize%20assets%20from%20a%20deceased%20person's%20estate.

Losses from unauthorised fraud increased in the first half of this year, while losses where people were tricked into transferring money fell, according to banking industry body UK Finance.

In total, criminals stole £571.7 million through unauthorised and authorised fraud in the first half of 2024, a 1.5% decrease compared with the first half of 2023.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/more-570m-stolen-fraudsters-first-230100032.html

62.1% of UK consumers see mobile app fraud as a top concern, with 50% also citing hacking as a fear, according to findings from the Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) and Appdome.

“Banks and fintechs are worried about fraud happening to them because of the implications from a regulatory perspective and obviously, a financial loss perspective, and so are consumers,” said Chris Roeckl, chief product officer at Appdome, speaking to finextra.

https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/44884/over-62-of-uk-cite-mobile-app-fraud-as-top-concern

The chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group has joined calls for technology firms like Meta to do more to clamp down on a surge in scams originating from social media.

Charlie Nunn, one of Britain’s most influential bankers, said social media giants needed to collaborate more with lenders to protect consumers.

Asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme whether Lloyds believed tech companies were “pulling their weight” on fraud, Nunn replied: “No, we don’t.”

https://www.cityam.com/lloyds-boss-charlie-nunn-says-meta-is-not-doing-enough-to-tackle-scams/