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Fraud increases 10pc in first half of 2011
Originally posted by 5corpio
Frauds recorded by the UK's Fraud Prevention Service CIFAS increased 10pc in the first six months of 2011.
Cases of reported fraud increased 10pc in the first half of this year compared to the previous six months. Of the 111,504 confirmed frauds in the six months to the end of June this year, identity frauds made up nearly half of all cases.
A further one in 10 cases involved criminals the illegal access of UK bank accounts, which CIFAS said proved "the continued value of personal and financial data to the modern financial criminal".
Crimes involving the fraudulent misuse of an account or facility make up a quarter of all frauds – the highest levels since 2009, with bank accounts being particularly targeted. Accounts which are linked to a plastic card such as a credit, debit or even store card are hijacked the most, making up nearly four in 10 "takeover" cases.
Bad news for those who championed the cheque in the recent Treasury Committee investigation – CIFAS revealed that this payment method is misused in almost half of account takeover cases.
Richard Hurley from CIFAS said: "Someone's personal and financial details are like a licence to print money for the modern fraudster. Whether they were obtained digitally or physically, the fact that over a half of all frauds in some way relate to the misuse of other people's personal details clearly underlines the
Cases of reported fraud increased 10pc in the first half of this year compared to the previous six months. Of the 111,504 confirmed frauds in the six months to the end of June this year, identity frauds made up nearly half of all cases.
A further one in 10 cases involved criminals the illegal access of UK bank accounts, which CIFAS said proved "the continued value of personal and financial data to the modern financial criminal".
Crimes involving the fraudulent misuse of an account or facility make up a quarter of all frauds – the highest levels since 2009, with bank accounts being particularly targeted. Accounts which are linked to a plastic card such as a credit, debit or even store card are hijacked the most, making up nearly four in 10 "takeover" cases.
Bad news for those who championed the cheque in the recent Treasury Committee investigation – CIFAS revealed that this payment method is misused in almost half of account takeover cases.
Richard Hurley from CIFAS said: "Someone's personal and financial details are like a licence to print money for the modern fraudster. Whether they were obtained digitally or physically, the fact that over a half of all frauds in some way relate to the misuse of other people's personal details clearly underlines the
Read more on this story: Fraud increases 10pc in first half of 2011 - Telegraph