Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Insolvency Service has announced ambitious and transformational plans to play a more prominent role in the fight against economic crime and be recognised as the UK’s leading authority in enforcing corporate and insolvency standards. The strategy commits the agency to broadening its remit, taking robust action against criminals who defraud businesses and taxpayers, and…
Read more
A criminal has been sentenced at Inner London Crown Court to over a year in prison for operating a SMS Blaster to conduct a mass smishing campaign against victims with the intent to harvest their personal details to be used in fraud. The sentencing follows an investigation and arrest by the Dedicated Card and Payment…
Read more
One in two (50%) consumers have reported a fraud attempt had been made against them in the last three months, with many even reporting to falling victim according to new research by TransUnion. The survey found that 14% of UK respondents reported they had lost money to fraud in the last year alone, through various…
Read more
The founder of a football betting investment firm has been banned as a director after his company went into administration owing investors more than £10 million. Former television presenter Alan Bentley allowed his Bentley Global (UK) Limited company to obtain more than £1.5 million from investors during late 2019 and the first half of 2020,…
Read more
The Civil Enforcement Association (CIVEA) has identified a 300% increase in reports of people impersonating enforcement agents and using aggressive tactics to scare victims into paying fictitious debts. CIVEA was notified of 26 ‘fake bailiff’ reports in the first quarter of the year (January – March 2025), almost equal to the amount received during the…
Read more
Britain’s financial sector reported 3.31 million fraud cases in 2024, marking a 12% increase from the previous year, according to latest UK Finance data. The surge resulted in £1.17 billion being stolen, unchanged from 2023. Fraud accounts for 41% of all reported crime in the country. Banks prevented £1.45 billion of unauthorised fraud through advanced…
Read more
Global business and technology leaders are already seeing benefits from the use of AI and automation, with over three-quarters (78%) reporting measurable improvements in the ability to detect fraud and manage risk after their organisation’s integration of the technology, according to research by FIS in collaboration with Oxford Economics. To combat this disharmony, businesses across…
Read more
A car dealer from Kent who now lives in Spain has been banned from being a company director for 12 years after his company received a second £45,000 Covid Bounce Back loan it was not entitled to. Joseph Harrison was the director of South East Commercials Ltd, a used car sales dealership in Kent before…
Read more
The Government has issued new powers to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), which will allow the DWP to recover money directly from the bank accounts of fraudsters who can repay but are wilfully gaming the system in order not to, passed an important stage in the House of Commons as it had its…
Read more
The owner of a North London tyre shop has been banned as a director for 10 years after overstating his company’s turnover to secure a maximum-value Covid loan. Shkelzen Gashi ran Smart Tyres Services Ltd from his address on Harringay Road from 2015 to 2022. The 53-year-old claimed his company’s turnover was £250,000 when he…
Read more
Fraud prevention service, Cifas has published its annual Fraudscape report which reveals a staggering 421,000 cases were filed to the National Fraud Database (NFD) in 2024 – a 13% increase and the highest number on record. The sharp rise is one of the largest annual increases ever observed by Cifas, underscoring the growing scale and…
Read more
Two connected technology companies which claimed to protect people online and enhance their social media image have been shut down by the Insolvency Service following concerns they were running a direct debit scam. Manchester-based companies Affinity Technology Solutions Limited and RCSR Tech Limited were both wound-up at the High Court. Affinity claimed to offer a…
Read more
More than two in three UK fintech companies (68%) are reporting higher fraud volumes compared with one year ago, according to new data published by Alloy. The research showed that 79% of UK fintechs say they lost at least £500,000 to fraud in the 12 months to October 2024. Two in five (38%) fintechs reported…
Read more