Businesses called to guard against fraud

02.12.08

Businesses need to remain wary of fraud despite a rise in fraudster prosecutions, new figures show.

National crime statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show the total number of fraud cases went up 52% in 2007, to 6,483. However, it is feared the number of convictions do not accurately reflect the scale of the fraud problem in the UK.

Martin Williams, managing director of Graydon UK said: "According to some estimates, fraud costs this country something in the region of £50bn a year – 6483 convictions, although promising, hardly begins to deal with this huge problem in the UK."

The KPMG Forensics barometer for 2007 estimates that £1bn worth of fraud cases ended up in the courts during 2007, but this is only 2% of the estimated fraud value.

Williams continued: “Businesses need to ensure that their guard is never allowed to drop. Companies should never be pressured to cut corners before opening up credit accounts. Validate all application data, do credit checks with a bona fide credit agency, and always look to corroborate delivery address details before dispatching goods.”

The 2006 Fraud Act came into force on 1 January 2007 aimed at helping police and prosecution services gain more convictions in this fast growing area of crime and to bring the law in line with a new generation of internet and identity theft scams.

© Crimson Business Ltd, 2008