Justin Harper reports:
The recession has led to a surge in financial fraud with identity theft up by almost a third, latest industry figures have revealed.
A worrying trend is emerging where criminals take over the running of your bank account and transfer funds into an account they have set up to accept these bogus payments, according to CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service.
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Peter Hurst, chief executive of CIFAS, said: ‘It is well-known that a rise in fraud goes hand in hand with a recession. Fraudsters adapt their methods in response to changes in the economy, finding and exploiting any area of weakness.’
The fraud organisation has also seen a 55pc increase in false insurance claims. The biggest factor for the surge of false claims are staged or made-up events that massively inflate the claim for damages. This often involves gangs of criminals who fake car crashes.
Read more in the Telegraph.