Despite a decline in traditional procurement fraud, where firms are overcharged for goods and services, fraud in the UK has exceeded £1bn for the first six months of this year, eclipsing previous half-year figures. Experts have pointed to more sophisticated scams such as revenue dilution fraud and insider dealing as increasingly prominent trends.

Full Story >> Procurement Network

More than 15,000 people reported being victims of fraud during the first half of 2010, a report has said.

Action Fraud, the national fraud reporting centre, said it received the reports from people who said they had been victims of scams.

Full Story >> BBC News

Brenda Parke is an unlikely victim of fraud.

Attractive, confident and self-reliant, she lives with her dog Oscar in a comfortable home looking out onto the rolling West Sussex countryside, after a successful career in travel and tourism. Divorcee Brenda, 60, joined a dating website and just before Christmas 2009 received the first email from "Bradford Cole" - supposedly a Dutch businessman working in the UK.

Full Story >> BBC News

Bargain-hunters hoping to snap up a cheap last-minute summer getaway risk being caught by holiday scams unless they do more to protect themselves when booking online

Full Story >> The Guardian

Citizens Advice says borrowers struggling to get mainstream credit should avoid companies offering bogus loans in return for an upfront fee.

Full Story>> The Guardian

The Charity Commission has been made aware of a scam involving people being telephoned by individuals claiming to represent the Charity Commission. In the phone calls these individuals claim to be from the "debt collection department" of the Commission and they demand payments for various services and advertisements.  

Some of the bogus calls have demanded payments of thousands of pounds for various services and advertisements. The Commission has been contacted by a number of people who have received calls of this nature and has already reported this matter to the police.

It is important to be clear that:

• Any call from someone claiming to work with or on behalf of the Charity Commission, and claiming any payment in a threatening way, is clearly bogus;
• The Charity Commission does not charge for any of its services to charities; it does not get involved in debt collection either directly or through contracting third parties to do so, and nor does it collect debt on behalf of charities;
• You should immediately report these sorts of incidents to the police, and the Charity Commission would also like to be informed where its name is being used for suspected fraudulent purposes.

Andrew Hind, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission said;
“I am outraged that individuals are misusing the good name of the Charity Commission in this way. I would strongly urge anyone to contact the police if they receive one of these calls and to please notify us as well.”

Our advice to charities is: 

• When you speak to any member of staff from the Commission they will always be prepared to give their name, telephone number and email address;
• Commission email addresses always end with the domain name @charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk;
• Check the number of any suspect caller against the direct dial telephone codes for our offices; these are London 0207 674…, Liverpool 0151 703…, Taunton 01823 345… , Newport 01633 2255…

The best way to contact us is by email or if you need to speak to someone urgently you can call our contact centre on 0845 300 0218. Lines are open from 08:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday, except national holidays.

Number of 'phishing' attacks have risen to 51,000 from just 1,700 five years ago, according to the UK Cards Association.

Full Story >> The Guardian

Regulator warns that number range reserved for radiopagers is being used in new premium rate ripoff.

Full Story >> The Guardian

Tenants are being targeted by so-called landlords who ask them to 'prove funds' with a money transfer receipt made to a friend.

National charity Citizens Advice says would-be tenants should be on their guard if they are asked to "prove funds" via money transfer prior to viewing the property.

Full Story >> The Guardian

Romantics should be on their guard against internet dating scams that can not only rip you off financially but also break your heart.

The latest scam alert from the Office of Fair Trading warns that the increased potential to meet people online is being used by criminals to con people out of their money.

Full Story >> The Guardian

Social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are being used by fraudsters to harvest users' personal financial details, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) warned this week. "The public should be aware of the predatory nature of fraudsters and be careful about revealing personal information on social-networking sites, as this has become a primary method of harvesting information and targeting victims," they said.

Full Story >> The Independant

THE region had some of the country’s highest incidents of major fraud last year.

A report by KPMG highlights the growing problem of financial fraud across the UK and concludes it was one of the most significant crimes of the past decade.

Full Story >> The Northern Echo

The National Fraud Authority (NFA) has calculated the figure for the first time and said it equated to £621 per adult in the UK.

Full Story >> BBC News

FocusClothing, a scam website claiming to sell expensive brands at low prices, has left thousands of unsuspecting customers out of pocket.

Thousands of consumers seem to have been collectively duped out of up to £1m by a website that promised designer clothing and footwear at hugely discounted prices.

Full Story >> The Guardian

Internet shoppers have been told to be on their guard as scam websites are dominating the sponsored search results for many branded goods on the internet search giant Google.

Fraudsters, mostly based in China, are duping Britons into buying fake items such as Ugg boots and Links of London jewellery that appear as Google-sponsored links. In many cases the goods never arrive and customers’ credit card details are put at risk.

Full Story >> Timesonline

The 1,219 websites purported to sell items ranging from Ugg boots and Tiffany & Co jewellery to GHD hair straighteners. Police said the fact the sites had ".co.uk" web addresses meant innocent British shoppers were duped into making what appeared to be bargain purchases, but they received either counterfeit products or nothing at all.

Full Story >> The Guardian

Thanks to the recession, thousands of scams, and attempted scams, are taking place every day. Last year, insurance frauds worth £730m were uncovered, according to figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), while an estimated £1.9 billion of dodgy claims slipped through the net. This year, the number is climbing higher still.

Full Story >> Timesonline

High street stores targeted as fraudsters become ever more sophisticated.

Online shoppers are at risk of losing money or becoming victims of fraud if they buy from scam or “copycat” websites this Christmas.

Experts are warning consumers to be on their guard after an increase in copycat websites of high street stores that look legitimate. There is also a proliferation of “bargain” websites selling counterfeit items or goods that fail to arrive. Many of these websites appear safe, with encrypted web pages and logos of secure payment services such as PayPal.

Full Story >> Timesonline

Thinking nothing of it, he carried on with everyday life, not realising something more sinister was afoot - until a chance meeting with his postman.  John, 52, said: 'I was walking down the street and bumped into my postman, who asked what I was doing there.

'He told me he thought I had moved as all my post was being redirected to an address in North London. I was completely taken aback. I had no idea what was happening.'
Unfortunately for John, he was soon to find out he had become the latest victim of a multi-million-pound fraud that has hit thousands of people across the UK.

Full Story >> The Mail onLine

The amount lost to cheque fraud in the UK was £15.6m in the first half of this year – and £8.6m of that was chequebooks lost in the post.

We are bombarded with adverts for insurance to protect us against identity theft, reminded numerous times not to let credit cards out of our sight at restaurants and warned of the dangers of "phishing", where fraudsters steal our details online. But who thinks about falling victim to fraud by way of the humble cheque these days?

Full Story >> The Observer