A fifth (20%) of IFAs do not have protective measures against fraud and scams in place, leaving them at risk of an incident or attack, new research from global research and insights agency Opinium reveals.

In addition, just over one in three IFAs (35%) report being subjected to scam and fraud threats, with slightly fewer than a third (31%) having experienced an increase in attempts to compromise their businesses in the past year. Despite this, one in three respondents (35%) do not currently train their staff in how to spot potential threats and protect themselves and the business.

https://ifamagazine.com/a-fifth-of-ifas-have-no-fraud-or-scam-protection-in-place-despite-a-third-seeing-an-increase-in-scam-attempts-in-the-past-year/

Fraud remains England and Wales' most common crime, and last year victims lost over £1bn. To fight back, Which? believes the next government has both an opportunity and an obligation to make tackling fraud a national priority.

https://www.politicshome.com/members/article/next-government-make-fraud-national-priority

The contemporary banking system operates in a dynamic and interconnected global landscape. While this presents vast opportunities, it also introduces novel challenges to financial security. According to a report by Deloitte’s Center for Financial Services, generative AI could drive fraud losses in the United States to an estimated $40 billion by 2027, up from $12.3 billion in 2023. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 32%.

https://www.finextra.com/blogposting/26318/beyond-borders-beyond-fraud-securing-the-future-of-finance

The political parties have stated their plans to clamp down on taxing the wealth and setting in place extra regulations to stop tax avoidance. But why does this need to happen, how common is tax avoidance in the UK?

Tax Avoidance and Evasion Statistics

There is a £4.6 billion tax gap which is due to tax avoidance meaning that taxes are lower what they should be from people and corporations committing tax fraud and avoidance.

Around £70billion of revenue has been lost to tax evasion overall in the UK.

https://www.finance-monthly.com/2024/06/is-tax-avoidance-a-big-problem-in-the-uk/

The UK is fast becoming a global hotspot for online fraud, which is having a devastating impact on both businesses and the economy.

New research from fraud prevention platform Ravelin shows online fraud is increasing globally but has grown more in the UK in the last 12 months than any of the ten countries surveyed, including France, Germany, Italy, America, Brazil, Australia, and Mexico.

https://ifamagazine.com/uk-becomes-the-fraud-capital-of-the-world/

NatWest has issued a warning over Martin Lewis scams - after customers lost as much as £150,000 to them. NatWest’s annual Celebrity Scam Super League table reveals the celebrities fraudsters are exploiting without their knowledge to steal millions of pounds.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newsbirmingham/natwest-issues-martin-lewis-warning-after-customers-lose-150000/ar-BB1oauUf?ocid=BingNewsSerp

According to figures from UK Finance, the UK trade association for banking and financial services, losses to fraud in the past year exceeded £1billion, equating to £2,300 stolen every minute. More must be done to stop this. As a result, Which?, the consumer choice advisor, has recommended the next Prime Minister appoint a dedicated fraud minister.

https://thefintechtimes.com/which-recommends-a-fraud-minister-to-tackle-40-of-uk-crime-fraud/

London police have arrested two individuals in connection with a scheme using an “SMS blaster” to send thousands of fraudulent messages. These messages, posing as banks and official organisations, aimed to deceive the public into sharing personal information.

The investigation, believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, uncovered the use of an illegal telephone mast functioning as an “SMS blaster.” This device enabled the perpetrators to bypass mobile networks’ security measures designed to block suspicious texts.

The first arrest occurred on 9 May in Manchester, followed by a second arrest in London on 23 May.

https://www.telecomstechnews.com/news/2024/jun/10/london-police-sms-blaster-arrests/

Firms have urged the UK payments regulator to delay fraud reimbursement rules following growing criticism of the measures and the recent departure of the watchdog’s head.

In a letter on Monday, the Payments Association called on the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to delay measures due to force banks and other payment firms to reimburse victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud up to a limit of £415,000 per claim from October.

https://www.cityam.com/uk-payment-firms-urge-regulator-to-delay-controversial-fraud-refund-rules/

Social media scammers are impersonating every major airline operating in the UK, according to new analysis.

Consumer group Which? said fraudsters on X – formerly known as Twitter – are responding to messages sent to official accounts.

It found scammers impersonating airlines to ask for enough information to allow them to commit identity fraud.

https://www.itv.com/news/2024-06-10/warning-as-social-media-scammers-impersonate-major-uk-airlines