A Manchester restaurant manager who fraudulently obtained two Covid loans worth £100,000 and spent taxpayers’ money on jewellery has been handed a suspended sentence.

Sehrish Yasmin was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for 12 months, at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday 16 May.

The 32-year-old was also ordered to pay costs and compensation totalling £5,000 within 28 days.

https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/2133861-restaurant-manager-gets-suspended-jail-sentence-for-covid-loan-fraud

The amount victims lost to fraud soared past £1bn in 2023 – a fraction less than during the previous year, a report finds.

This figure (£1.17bn) could have doubled had it not been for banks intervening, which prevented an extra £1.25bn going into the pockets of criminals.

https://www.yourmoney.com/economy/fraud-victims-lose-1-2bn-in-2023-as-app-scams-surge/

Last month Nick Ephgrave, the new director of the Serious Fraud Office, set out his vision for an organisation whose success has otherwise been limited by challenges.

While many of the SFO chief’s proposals are not new to regulators in other jurisdictions or to lawyers representing businesses being investigated, the SFO finally appears to be taking steps to level the playing field for its benefit.

https://www.ftadviser.com/regulation/2024/05/23/sfo-director-appears-to-be-levelling-the-playing-field-in-latest-strategy/

The UK National Audit Office is renewing its focus on helping the government deliver value for money by preventing fraud and error – potentially saving billions for the UK taxpayers

Our main role at the UK National Audit Office (NAO) is to give Parliament and taxpayers assurance that public money is properly accounted for and well spent.

https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/the-tip-of-the-iceberg-unlocking-billions-by-fighting-fraud-and-error/177316/

Britons lost more than £1bn to fraudsters last year, new figures show, as purchase scams surge to a record high and social media firms face tough questions over the high levels of fraud originating on their platforms.

Criminals stole a total of £1.17bn through unauthorised and authorised fraud in 2023, according to data reported by members of trade body UK Finance, which include banks, card issuers and other payment firms.

Total losses were down four per cent from the previous year, while banks prevented a further £1.25bn of unauthorised fraud through their security systems.

https://www.cityam.com/brits-lost-more-than-1bn-to-fraudsters-last-year-as-purchase-scams-hit-record-high/

The annual research by the trade body found the number of scam cases dropped last year. But more than £1bn was stolen by criminals.

Fraudsters were less successful with their scam activity in 2023 but still managed to steal £3.2m a day, new figures from UK Finance have suggested.

https://moneyweek.com/personal-finance/uk-finance-scam-report-fraud-banks-criminals

A record purchase scam level is behind the rise in APP fraud cases in 2023, UK Finance has warned. A record amount was lost to purchase scams last year, where people were tricked into paying for goods that never materialised, UK Finance said.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/lloyds-bank-warns-customers-1-165009403.html

A recent trial by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed that tens of thousands of benefit claimants may be breaking the rules. The DWP asked two high street banks to monitor the bank accounts of individuals receiving Universal Credit, Pension Credit, or ESA (Employment and Support Allowance).

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/dwp-trial-bank-account-monitoring-115918668.html

The cost of fraud in the UK more than doubled to £2.3bn in 2023, according to BDO’s ‘FraudTrack’ report, with the number of reported cases rising by 18 percent to a three-year high.

Employees can commit fraud in a wide variety of ways, including dishonest sales practices, hiding important information from consumers or investors, and dishonest practices in financial markets. Individuals, other organisations or the taxpayer may end up defrauded and out of pocket as a result.

The question for organisations is how to defend against this ongoing tsunami of fraudulent activity.

Businesses should expect the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to undertake more ‘own initiative’ investigations into compliance with UK ‘cookie laws’ in the months and years ahead, an expert in data protection and privacy law has said.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/en-gb/out-law/news/uk-cookie-law-enforcement-not-dependent-on-complaints