Partnership working and sharing best practice makes life much more difficult for fraudsters

ACPO figures recently released indicated the cost of fraud to the British Economy to be £20 billion per year. With a North West population of 6.8 million this represents a cost of approximately £8 billion to the regional economy.

The North West Fraud Forum, NWFF, is a not-for-profit association that is dedicated to raising fraud awareness in organisations within the North West of England and delivers a programme of activity focused on detecting, reducing and preventing fraud.

To further its aims, NWFF delivers seminars, training and risk reduction advice to stakeholders within the region, and encourages public and private sector collaboration to fight fraud and financial crime and to protect the North West economy. Its members represent a diverse range of organisations including regional police forces, firms of solicitors and accountants, banks, building societies and insurance companies, and local councils.

National Federation of Fraud Fora established

On the 12 June 2008 at a meeting of the 9 regional fraud forums it was agreed to formerly establish the National Federation of Fraud Fora. Alan Brown of the North East Fraud Forum was elected as the Chair and Alan Day from the London Fraud Forum was elected as Vice-Chair. This newly formed body will represent the regional forums as a single voice on national matters and provide a platform for sharing best practice between the regions.

Interim Chief Executive of National Fraud Strategic Authority Appointed

Sandra Quinn has been appointed as interim Chief Executive of the new National Fraud Strategic Authority (NFSA), the Attorney General announced today. The full press release can be found at the Attorney General's website

Identity Fraud Soars - Victims of Fraud Dosier published by Experian

The number of identity fraud incidents reported to Experian has continued to grow during the second half of 2007. Between 1 July and 31 December 2007, 3,554 new victims of identity fraud contacted Experian’s Victims of Fraud service to get help reclaiming their identities. Put into context, the whole of 2006 saw 3,500 people report cases of identity fraud to Experian. In total, 2007 saw more than 6,000 victims contact Experian. This represents an increase of 66% when taken across the whole year.

The proportion of consumers that were able to identify themselves that they had become a victim of identity fraud continues to grow. In fact, in the second half of 2007, 71% of victims first discovered they had become a victim by monitoring their credit report and seeing fraudulent activity recorded on it - download a copy of the report (982 KB)

National Fraud Reporting Centre to Combat Fraud

The Government press release announced a £28 million spending plan to implement key proposals from the Fraud Review. The City of London Police is to be the lead force in the fight against fraud and will be responsible for establishing a National fraud Reporting Centre. The NWFF fully supports this positive move to ensure that reporting fraud is simplified and positive steps are now being taken to reduce the £20 billion impact that fraud has on UK Business.

Cybercrime is on the rise with a UK victim hit every 10 seconds, new figures suggest

A report claims that more than three million online offences were committed last year as perpetrators increasingly hid behind the anonymity of the internet.

In nearly two-thirds of cases the intended target was an individual as opposed to a firm, with abusive emails and online identity theft among the crimes being identified. A study commissioned by online identity firm Garlik found that 60% of the estimated 3,237,500 cybercrimes committed in 2006 were "offences against the person". These included threatening emails, blackmail perpetrated over the internet and online fraud.

More than 200,000 cases of financial fraud were recorded in 2006, with criminals impersonating the victim to obtain money, credit or a better job, the report said. Cases of online harassment during 2006 numbered almost two million, the report claims. The study, compiled by online criminology firm 1871 Ltd, reports that the relative anonymity and "safe" distance that the internet allows is driving a wave of cybercrime. But many offences are going unreported. It is claimed that 90% of online harassment is carried out without a formal complaint being made.

More fraud suspects arrested

HM Revenue & Customs officers investigating a suspected £20m VAT missing trader fraud yesterday made 16 arrests across the North West. The raids follow a 21-month investigation codenamed Operation Vaulter. Arrests took place in Manchester, Rochdale, Northwich, Elton, Congleton, Knutsford, St Asaph and Prestatyn. Between April and December 2006 there were 11 successful prosecutions for missing trader fraud, resulting in 40 convictions with 180 years imprisonment imposed.

Lawyers go digital

Manchester law firm Burton Copeland has reacted to escalating online crime fraud with the launch of a specialist division. Burtons Digital sees the firm team up with computer forensics business AFENTIS, to offer advice and legal representation to those concerned about, or facing charges, in such diverse areas as computer-based fraud, hacking, terrorism and/or child pornography.

ACPO Fraud Report 2007

Comments by Mike Bowron - Commissioner of Police for the City of London and ACPO Lead for Economic Crime.

Independent study reveals the true cost of fraud in the UK is costing the UK economy a minimum of £13.9 billion a year, a specially commissioned report has revealed.

The findings of the report, researching the true cost of fraud, were revealed to members of parliament on 7 March when Mike Bowron, Commissioner of Police for the City of London & ACPO Lead for Economic Crime, together with the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, attended a parliamentary breakfast.

The report, commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers' Economic Crime Portfolio Group, consisting of representatives from both public and private bodies, analysed key data drawn from global reports and national surveys to assess, as accurately as possible, the true economic cost of fraud in the UK.

Morgan Harris Burrows LLP compiled the report, which took a year to produce, in association with Professor Michael Levi of Cardiff University. The independent study provides a comprehensive breakdown of the various sub-sectors of fraud and conservatively estimates this to be in the region of £13.9 billion per year.

Commissioner Mike Bowron said:

"Professor Levi and his team have conservatively estimated that in 2005 fraud cost the UK £13.9 billion. But this figure excludes some major areas of criminality, such as income tax and EU fraud, where statistics are simply not available. Adding estimates for these into the mix, it is likely that fraud represents a £20 billion annual loss to the UK. To put this figure into perspective, such losses would pay for an additional 200,000 police officers or save every man, woman and child £330.00 per year."

He added:

"It used to be said ‘No one walks down the street in fear of being embezzled.' Well increasingly they do. Whereas once the average Briton dreaded being burgled or having their car broken into, they are now worried about identity fraud, mass marketing scams and other forms of financial crime that have a serious impact on our lives. Long gone is the notion that fraud is a victimless crime."