More than half of all company directors struck off in Britain in the past 15 months were involved in alleged fraud or abuse of Covid-19 financial support schemes, official figures have revealed.

There were 1,200 directors disqualified between 1 April last year and 30 June this year, with 611 of the cases involving abuse of Covid-19 schemes, mainly in relation to taxpayer-backed bounce-back loans. About £1.1bn of loans have already been flagged as suspected fraud or error.

The Security Minister convened a meeting of the Joint Fraud Taskforce to discuss measures to tackle fraud including an online fraud charter.

Representatives from across the private sector met at 10 Downing Street to update government on progress made to tackle fraud and protect the public from scams.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-and-industry-meet-to-progress-the-fight-against-fraud

A sophisticated Chinese cyber-attack aimed at stealing UK and European foreign policy data has been tracked by investigators monitoring a global online battlefield.

https://metro.co.uk/2023/07/14/map-shows-extremely-targeted-chinese-cyber-attack-on-uk-and-europe-19125490/

Barclays Bank, represented by TLT and barristers from Fountain Court, has won a major UK Supreme Court case against a customer who fell victim to bank transfer fraud.

The ruling stated that banks cannot be held responsible for authorised push payment (APP) fraud where an individual customer directly instructs their bank to make a payment which is subsequently found to be prompted by fraud.

https://www.globallegalpost.com/news/barclays-succeeds-in-major-uk-supreme-court-bank-transfer-fraud-decision-1303452749

Artificial intelligence (AI) would be used to help the unemployed find jobs and crack down on benefit fraud under Labour plans.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth will set out how AI could be used to offer personalised support for people looking for work, analysing CVs and suggesting jobs that match their skills.

https://news.stv.tv/politics/labour-sets-out-plans-to-harness-ai-to-crack-down-on-benefit-fraud

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) reported transactions potentially involving money laundering worth over £75m to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the last financial year.

Small firms dominated once again, with 70% of the 24 suspicious activity reports (SARs) sent by the SRA to law enforcement involving sole practices or law firms with 10 or fewer fee-earners, and the majority relating to conveyancing.

https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/small-firms-at-heart-of-aml-reports-made-by-sra

Nick Ephgrave QPM has been announced as the new Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) by the Attorney General, Victoria Prentis KC MP.

Mr Ephgrave was selected following an open and transparent competition and will take up the appointment at the end of September for an initial term of five years. He will replace the outgoing Director, Lisa Osofsky.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-sfo-director-announced

Cyber-criminals have increasingly utilized specialized mobile Android OS device spoofing tools to bypass anti-fraud controls and impersonate compromised account holders.

According to a new report by Resecurity’s Hunter threat intelligence unit, the emerging trend poses significant challenges for online banking, payment systems, advertising networks and online marketplaces worldwide.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/android-os-tools-fuel-cybercrime/

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a plan to stop billions of pounds being lost in benefits fraud and error. The new drive will widen powers to include executing warrants, search and seizure of evidence, and even making arrests.

A total of 8,691 investigations into alleged benefit fraud were opened by the DWP up to the end of March 2023. It comes as more than 20 million people across the UK claim some form of benefit from the department, including Universal Credit and the state pension.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/dwp-benefits-crackdown-warning-and-eight-types-of-evidence-that-could-be-used-against-you/ar-AA1cUF7n

 It's investing £900 million in an attempt to save £2.4 billion by 2024-5

He said: 'The area of crime that is increasing – 40 per cent of crime – is fraud'

Criminal gangs who commit benefit fraud were put on notice last night by work and pensions secretary Mel Stride.

In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, the Cabinet Minister warned that authorities will 'catch up' with those who cheat the public purse.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/we-ll-use-ai-to-thwart-benefits-fraud-gangs-who-cost-uk-billions-says-mel-stride/ar-AA1djzze