A London jury convicted two British teenagers of a raft of computer crimes, blackmail and fraud undertaken while the duo had been core members of adolescent hacking group Lapsus$. Victims included multibillion-dollar and multinational companies Nvidia, Uber and Rockstar Games.

https://www.databreachtoday.com/jury-finds-2-teenagers-perpetrated-lapsus-group-hacks-a-22915?rf=2023-08-24_ENEWS_ACQ_DBT__Slot1_ART22915&mkt_tok=MDUxLVpYSS0yMzcAAAGNxzdiyR9ZLeY6lMU7BEa5-7PQx-22AkikeWsipBXR7V966ms0ZhkT1-B7dRF61UGmblVnL_MPPGKL5ohYI1He1BpA3ugMx4OEj0IayP3Yw0_oQH2ZHg

In its half year Fraudscape report, Cifas has revealed in the range of external and internal fraud risks faced by organisations. These substantial and growing threats come against a backdrop of additional legal requirements for organisations to put ’reasonable procedures’ in place to prevent fraud.

Between January-June 2023, Cifas members recorded just over 186,500 cases of fraudulent conduct to the National Fraud Database. Particularly notable within these numbers is the scale and growth in attacks on both customers and companies.

A corrupt police employee illegally accessed sensitive information and tipped-off a criminal friend about a massive, secret investigation into serious and organised crime.

Natalie Mottram, 24, from Warrington, was employed by Cheshire Police but was on secondment and working as an intelligence analyst at the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) when she was arrested by National Crime Agency officers on 12 June 2020.

https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/operation-venetic-corrupt-police-worker-admits-tipping-off-criminal-over-secret-nationwide-investigation

Imagine you are driving your car and the engine light appears on your dashboard. What do you do? Ignore it and hope that it is a fluke and that whatever the issue is will go away, or do you take your auto to your mechanic to find out what the problem is and what the cost will be to repair it? The engine light is a reg flag, a warning sign that something is amiss with the engine. There may be an engine light issue or a serious problem that needs immediate attention. Regardless of which one it is, conventional wisdom tells us to pursue the potential problem with the engine.

https://www.marcumllp.com/insights/red-flags-are-you-paying-attention

A family helped run a major fraud operation spanning more than a decade which deprived Royal Mail of around £70 million, a court has heard.

Parmjeet Sandhu, 56, and his nephew Balginder Sandhu, 46, were part of a scheme to under-declare mail posted through a network of logistics companies in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, pocketing millions of pounds, it is alleged.

https://www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/national/23724503.family-helped-defraud-royal-mail-70m-court-hears/

Recent charges brought by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) highlight the need for businesses to be alert to the risk of bribes being solicited to move their projects forward, an expert in managing corruption risk has said.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/en-gb/out-law/news/bribery-arrests-bring-corruption-risks-faced-by-mining-firms-into-focus

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is warning the public about a surge in loan fee fraud (aka advance loan fee fraud).

This type of fraud scams borrowers into paying an upfront fee for a loan they then don’t receive, with losses averaging £260 per person.

https://www.yourmoney.com/credit-cards-loans/loan-fee-fraud-on-the-rise-how-you-can-avoid-the-scam-of-the-summer/

Currently, companies which benefit from fraudulent acts by employees or contractors are rarely prosecuted, but that will almost certainly change when new laws come into force which make it far easier to prosecute and to hold companies criminally liable for failing to prevent frauds from which they benefit.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/corporate-fraud-is-the-new-priority-focus-in-the-fight-against-the-fraud-pandemic-tom-stocker-4251116

New figures released in the updated 2023 Fraud Report from the credit card experts at money.co.uk, which analyses police figures to reveal where in the UK has seen the biggest rise in fraud and cyber crime, show that reports of fraudulent attacks have increased yet again.

/New%20figures%20released%20in%20the%20updated%202023%20Fraud%20Report%20from%20the%20credit%20card%20experts%20at%20money.co.uk,%20which%20analyses%20police%20figures%20to%20reveal%20where%20in%20the%20UK%20has%20seen%20the%20biggest%20rise%20in%20fraud%20and%20cyber%20crime,%20show%20that%20reports%20of%20fraudulent%20attacks%20have%20increased%20yet%20again.

The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) is set to increase its cryptocurrency fraud investigation unit as part of wider plans to halt the increase in financial crimes.

The new move will see the agency hire four new senior investigators to join the financial crime unit to tackle all forms of corruption and fraud cases on the blockchain.

https://cryptonews.com/news/uk-set-expand-its-national-crypto-crime-unit-as-organized-blockchain-fraud-surges.htm