Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The National Audit Office (NAO) has warned of a lack of progress in tackling criminal fraud. NAO analysis shows that fewer than one in two hundred cases of fraud reported to the police resulted in a criminal charge last year. The report shows that although the number of cases of reported fraud had risen from…
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With the pandemic having accelerated the shift away from face-to-face credit applications, the fraud landscape continues to evolve – and this trend shows no signs of a reversal. Given the inherently remote and anonymous nature of internet-based credit decisioning, this presents higher risks for lenders. The lender landscape has changed too. More consumer payment options,…
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Complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) regarding identity fraud soared over the Covid-19 pandemic, finishing 2020 at 44% higher than 2019, according to data obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by ID-Pal, a leading global identity verification provider. Despite seeing a decrease the following year as normality returned post pandemic, numbers in…
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UK Finance is warning people to be alert to potential fraud, as more than half of the public (56 per cent) said they are likely to look for opportunities to make extra money in the coming months due to the rise in the cost of living. This could leave some people more susceptible to fraud.…
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A worrying mistrust in technology is making some regulated firms vulnerable to financial crime according to SmartSearch. Research by the company has revealed that almost one in five (18 per cent) decision-makers in the legal, property and banking and finance sectors did not trust the technology of electronic verification (EV) software. Five hundred stakeholders, from…
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People experiencing mental health problems who fall victim to fraud are less likely to get their money back and twice as likely to fall into debt, Which? research has found. The consumer champion’s survey of more than 1,000 fraud victims revealed one in five (19%) of those with mental health conditions felt embarrassed about reporting…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Gatehouse Bank £1,584,100 for significant weakness in its financial crime systems and controls. Between June 2014 and July 2017 Gatehouse failed to conduct sufficient checks on its customers based in countries with a higher risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. Gatehouse also failed to undertake the correct…
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UK Finance has published its latest fraud report, covering the first half of 2022. The reports shows that while the end of the pandemic has seen a fall in overall fraud losses, some fraud types have increased as criminals continue to adapt their methods. A total of over £609.8 million was stolen through fraud and…
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Anti-money laundering specialist SmartSearch is backing calls for reform of the UK’s company registration system after a report revealed that thousands of UK-registered Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) bear the hallmarks of shell companies for serious financial crime. An investigation by anti-corruption organisation Transparency International UK found that more than 20,000 Limited Liability Partnerships almost one in…
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The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has confirmed plans to force banks to introduce new anti-fraud measures. The PSR said around 400 more firms would be required to use the name-checking service, called confirmation of payee (CoP) which helps to make sure payments are not sent to the wrong account by mistake, or to accounts run…
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Half of all UK adults (51%) have been affected by scams, according to new research from Canada Life. This equates to 27m people across the UK. Most of these cases can be described “phishing scams” (51%), when a fraudster attempts to imitate a legitimate company or person to secure important information from the victim. Crypto…
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Banks will be forced to reimburse anyone who loses more than £100 to bank transfer or payment fraud, under new plans outlined by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). As of next year, victims will get their money back in all but exceptional cases. The regulator said the policy change will incentivise banks and building societies…
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New statistics published by the Office For National Statistics (ONS) has revealed fraud offences increased by 25% (to 4.5 million offences) compared with the year ending March 2020, driven by large increases in advance fee fraud and consumer and retail fraud. The proportion of fraud incidents that were cyber-related increased to 61% from 53% in…
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