Property fraud is on the rise: the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department reported last year property claims represented the second-highest incidence of opportunistic fraud, accounting for 29% of fraudulent claims reported in the UK.

While this includes household claims, the commercial property sector is also significantly at risk from the increased rate of commission.

What are some of the factors contributing to this changing fraud landscape and how can insurers mitigate the threats posed by fraudsters?

https://kennedyslaw.com/en/thought-leadership/article/2024/insurers-must-turn-detective-to-combat-rise-in-property-fraud/

Criminals are making plans to exploit incoming fraud refund rules from the UK payments regulator, City A.M. has learnt, as banks and fintechs warn of harm to consumers if the measures come into force unaltered.

Analysts have voiced concerns that a combination of unprepared firms, less cautious consumers and new ways of claiming money could encourage organised criminal groups to target the UK.

https://www.cityam.com/fraud-refund-plan-scammers/

The Financial Conduct Authority has fined PwC £15mn for failing to report to the regulator its belief that London Capital & Finance might have been involved in fraudulent activity.

This is the first time the regulator has fined an audit firm and comes after PwC encountered “significant” issues throughout their 2016 audit of LCF.

https://www.ftadviser.com/regulation/2024/08/16/fca-fines-pwc-15mn-for-failing-to-disclose-suspected-fraud-at-lcf/

UK policymakers could consider it “prudent” to defer the implementation of a new fraud compensation scheme to seek to allay the “legitimate concerns” about the scheme that UK payment providers have expressed, an expert has said.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/en-gb/out-law/news/delaying-uk-app-fraud-compensation-scheme-considered-prudent

A data matching exercise detected £21.5 million worth of fraud and payment errors across the Scottish public sector.

The National Fraud Initiative (NFI) helps detect and prevent fraud and error by matching data sets across public bodies. Savings are identified, for example, by checking eligibility for council tax discounts against the electoral register. The initiative runs every two years.

https://audit.scot/news/rise-in-fraud-and-error-detection-across-public-sector

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the amount of fraud committed in the UK more than doubled to £2.3bn in 2023, marking the second-biggest year for scams in the last two decades

The number of reported cases rose by 18 per cent to a three-year high, while the number of high-value cases over £50m increased by 60 per cent year-on-year in 2023.

https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/uncovering-the-dark-world-of-fraud-and-money-mules/180942/

Adult social care was the biggest cause of potential fraud investigated at Redcar and Cleveland Council in the last 12 months, a report has revealed.

The organisation Veritau, which delivers a counter-fraud service on behalf of the local authority, said 54 reports of potential fraud were referred to it in in the 2023/24 financial year. As a result its team completed 16 investigations into alleged frauds with adult social care representing almost 39% of all cases, the majority.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/adult-social-care-biggest-cause-145022751.html

The Treasury has reportedly raised questions with the UK payments regulator over the timetable for its new fraud refund rules that have stirred alarm among banks and fintechs.

The measures, due to force payment firms to refund victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud up to a limit of £415,000, have prompted concern from both the former Conservative and current Labour governments over fears they could encourage more scams and be unaffordable for smaller businesses.

https://www.cityam.com/treasury-questions-payments-regulator-on-deadline-for-controversial-fraud-refund-rules/

An international operation coordinated by the National Crime Agency (NCA) has resulted in the arrest and extradition of a man believed to be one of the world’s most prolific Russian-speaking cybercrime actors.

The NCA has been investigating the online moniker ‘J.P. Morgan’ and his criminal network since 2015, with parallel investigations also being run by the United States Secret Service (USSS) and FBI.

https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/suspected-head-of-prolific-cybercrime-groups-arrested-and-extradited

Department predicts further pressure on service standards as tax base grows due to frozen thresholds.

HM Revenue and Customs has warned that it may struggle to deliver the 2024-25 savings target it was set at the last spending review because of rising costs.

https://www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article/hmrc-warns-of-challenge-to-deliver-efficiency-target