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

Officials are warning people to remain vigilant over scam emails purporting to be from supermarket, Asda.

Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, has received 1,754 reports in two weeks relating to fake emails purporting to be from Asda.

The emails state that the recipient has won a free prize which can be claimed by completing a survey.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/officials-warn-people-vigilant-over-040000440.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

Rishi Sunak has promised to save the taxpayer £12 billion a year by clamping down on benefit fraudsters and reforming the welfare system.

The Conservatives will make a manifesto pledge to halt the rising costs of welfare by reforming the benefits system if they win the election.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/rishi-sunak-i-ll-save-taxpayers-12bn-by-beating-benefit-fraud-and-reforming-welfare/ar-BB1nSknG?ocid=BingNewsSearch

Imagine a world in which the police, lawyers and cryptocurrency exchanges worked harmoniously together, in aid of the victims of crypto scams…well…

In a groundbreaking case, the collaborative efforts of police, lawyers, and cryptocurrency exchanges led to the successful recovery of stolen life savings for an elderly, vulnerable victim. This success story showcases the power of innovative thinking and cooperation in the fight against cryptocurrency fraud.

https://www.emmlegal.com/news/recover-stolen-crypto-assets/

The latest fraud threatening the UK could cost businesses at least £4.2billion if appropriate steps are not taken, new research from LexisNexis Risk Solutions shows.

A new study looked at over 72million consumer profiles and found 2.8million showing several signs of 'Frankenstein cloning', where fraudsters stitch real and made-up personal details together to create a 'new' synthetic identity to spoof credit checks and commit high-value fraud against banks and credit providers.

https://mondovisione.com/media-and-resources/news/three-million-frankenstein-identities-pose-a-multi-billion-pound-fraud-threat/

A fifth (20 per cent) of advisers do not have protective measures against fraud and scams in place, research from Opinium has revealed.

The research, which surveyed 200 financial advisers earlier this year, suggested this lack of measures could leave advisers at risk of an incident or an attack.

https://www.ftadviser.com/your-industry/2024/06/06/fifth-of-ifas-lack-protection-against-fraud/

Mike Lynch, once hailed as Britain’s king of technology, has been cleared of charges alleging he orchestrated a fraud and conspiracy leading up to an 11-billion-dollar (£8.64 billion) deal that turned into a costly albatross for Silicon Valley pioneer Hewlett Packard (HP).

https://www.impartialreporter.com/news/national/24371971.tech-star-mike-lynch-acquitted-fraud-8-6bn-deal-hewlett-packard/