Around five million travellers are expected to fly out of the UK for the New Year, with Christmas Day proving to be one of the most pleasant days to fly, thanks to low traffic and quieter airports.

However, with holiday scams tripling in the first half of 2024, you need to be vigilant for familiar issues like fake booking listings and phishing emails aiming to get your personal details.

The rise of AI means there is another wave of hurdles to jump over before landing on a safe holiday booking.

https://www.yourmoney.com/household-bills/international-fraud-awareness-week-how-to-dodge-festive-fraudsters-ai-holiday-scams/

NAO analysis of the impact of fraud and error on public funds shows the total has grown dramatically in the last two years.

The National Audit Office has just published our overview of the impact of fraud and error on public funds for the new parliament.

It’s aimed primarily at members of parliament to brief them on the issue of fraud and error and how government can best tackle it. We have sent it to every MP and made it available for all to read on our website.

New research from Visa reveals that more than two fifths (41%) of small-medium businesses in the UK have been a victim of fraud, with the average amount lost due to fraudsters in the last year being £3,808.

Bank account hacks (23%), billing and invoice fraud (26%) and phishing scams (24%) were the most common types reported

The survey also found that fraud can have a detrimental impact on SMEs’ ability to grow their business with consumers placing a high premium on security.

A new offence of ‘failure to prevent fraud’ is a good start, but if we really want to stop this crime we need better incentives for whistleblowers, says Dr Alison Cronin

Earlier this month the government published its guidance on the new corporate ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence, from the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, which will come into force next year.

The Home Office deserves some credit. Unlike the attribution of corporate liability for the substantive offence of fraud itself, for which it is necessary to show that senior managers or directors were involved or knew about the fraud, the new failure to prevent offence is suitably broad. Instead of relying on just senior managers or directors, it holds large organisations to account where an employee, agent, subsidiary, or other “associated person” commits a fraud offence. Liability can be imposed where the organisation did not have reasonable procedures in place to prevent the offence and the fraudster intended to benefit: the organisation, its clients, or indeed just the fraudster themselves if their actions also benefitted the organisation.

https://www.cityam.com/to-tackle-fraud-its-time-to-start-paying-whistleblowers/

The tax agency HMRC has nearly doubled the amount paid out to those making tip-offs, the highest figure of at least the past seven years.

According to Freedom of Information data obtained by accountancy firm Price Bailey, HMRC has paid out nearly £1m for tip-offs over 2023/24, 92 per cent higher than the £508,500 paid over 2022/23.

“Protecting people must be the priority – I am warning organisations today that data protection law is not an excuse and it does not stop you sharing data that may assist with tackling fraud,” said Stephen Almond.

The UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), has called on organisations across the country to share personal information responsibly to protect customers from scams and fraud.

https://www.digit.fyi/ico-data-protection-not-an-excuse-when-tackling-scams-fraud/

What are the 5 key things you need to know?

Our previous blog on this topic (found here: Fraud: ‘failure to prevent fraud' offence - KPMG UK) set out the background to the new ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence contained in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (“ECCTA”). As a one-line recap, this is where an organisation can be prosecuted under the ECCTA (potentially resulting in a fine) if a fraud is committed by an associated person, for the organisation’s benefit, and the organisation did not have ‘reasonable procedures’ in place to prevent the fraud.

https://kpmg.com/uk/en/home/insights/2024/11/government-guidance-for-failure-to-prevent-fraud-offence.html

The DVLA has issued a warning over a "widespread" scam that's so realistic millions of drivers are falling for it. Motorists and road users are falling for a swindle from con artists and fraudsters as we head towards Christmas, the motoring group has warned.

The DVLA has issued an alert over the scam, which has been reported more than 1,100 times in just two weeks. The fake messages purport to be from the DVLA and are trying to chase up motorists for car tax or Vehicle Excise Duty which is unpaid.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/dvla-warns-over-widespread-scam-165416045.html

With many of us spending more time shopping online, it is more important than ever to do so safely.

Action Fraud the National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre have put together some guidance on shopping online and how to avoid scam websites to purchase items safely.

1. Be careful where you shop

2. Pay for things online with a credit card

3. Only give enough details to complete your purchase

https://crimestoppers-uk.org/news-campaigns/news/2024/nov/3-tips-for-shopping-online-safely-from-action-fraud

The much-anticipated new corporate criminal offence of failure to prevent fraud was introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.

Its commencement was conditional on the government publishing guidance and that was issued on November 6 2024, and a regulation was laid before parliament on the same date that will make the offence effective from September 2025.

https://www.ftadviser.com/financial-fraud/2024/11/13/the-net-has-drastically-widened-for-corporate-criminal-liability/