Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
A Wolverhampton director has been sentenced for fraud and money laundering after pocketing £30,000 in Covid loans he was not entitled to. Sohail Cheema falsely declared his company’s turnover was £60,000 when applying to two separate banks for £15,000 Bounce Back Loans in 2020. His business, Sohail Cheema Limited, set up for him to gain…
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HMRC used Home Office travel data in an innovative attempt to address a major driver of fraud and error in Child Benefit, which totals £270 million annually, but it lacked sufficient governance and risk management and did not consider the impact on claimants, a new National Audit Office (NAO) report finds. In 2021, HMRC identified…
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The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined KRA Consultancy Ltd (KRA) £300,000 after it targeted people who were already in financial difficulty with unlawful spam texts – including fake bailiff messages. The Manchester-based company sent 5,575,715 unsolicited direct marketing texts between April 2022 and May 2025, promoting debt solutions to people who had already been…
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A banned company director who spent £300,000 of Covid support on family holidays, private school fees, and other personal spending has been jailed. Steven Brookes used funds from six fraudulently obtained Bounce Back Loans to pay for a trip to Disneyland, a holiday rental in Tenerife, and an Audi with personalised number plates for his wife. The 40-year-old also paid £7,000…
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UK Finance’s latest Annual Fraud Report shows its members reported that criminals stole £1.28 billion through payment fraud in 2025, an increase of four per cent, demonstrating how fraud continues to operate on an industrial scale and is a national security threat. The report also shows that most authorised push payment (APP) fraud cases still…
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As part of the joint regulatory taskforce, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned customers to be wary of misleading car finance ‘money tips’ adverts issued by claims management companies (CMCs) and law firms on social media. The taskforce has identified a growing number of adverts that appear to offer independent advice from an individual but…
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New findings from fraud prevention service, Cifas, has revealed a shift in attitudes towards insider‑enabled fraud, with 13% of employees saying they have either sold their company login details to a former colleague, or know someone who has, in the past 12 months. For organisations, the normalisation of credential sharing significantly increases exposure to insider…
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Two men have been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to a combined two years and eleven months for working together to sell fraudulent SMS spamming services online to fraudsters. The sentencing follows investigation and arrest by a specialist banking industry-sponsored police unit, the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU). Between June 2020 and November…
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The Insolvency Service has announced a partnership with Crimestoppers in an attempt to crack down on rogue directors. The partnership aims to boost tip-offs about banned directors still operating in the shadows The Insolvency Service disqualifies more than 1,000 directors every year for misconduct, including failing to pay tax and using company funds for personal…
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A criminal from London has been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to four years and five months in prison after defrauding customers of potentially up to £500,000 over 19 months. The sentencing follows investigation and arrest by a specialist banking industry-sponsored police unit, the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU). Between October 2022 and…
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New TSB data shows a series of recent scams in which criminals use social media to lure people into online friendships, then extract money ranging into the tens of thousands. TSB’s fraud expert, Stephanie Harrison, warns that ‘friendship fraud’ mirrors romance scams in its approach – with fraudsters building trust and rapport before demanding money.…
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A jailed fraudster has been ordered to hand back more than £120,000 after securing Covid loans in his wife’s name. Shohid Ahmed applied for three maximum-value Bounce Back Loans on behalf of Red Square Restaurants Limited, using his wife’s name because she had a better credit history. The 41-year-old, of Bardsey Crescent, Bradford, received £100,000…
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Fraud prevention service, Cifas has revealed that more than 444,000 cases were recorded to the National Fraud Database (NFD) in 2025, the highest number ever recorded in a single year, and a 6% increase on 2024. The scale of fraud continues to accelerate, with Cifas members recording more than 1,200 cases every day and preventing…
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