KPMG’s “Fraud Barometer” for 2014 reports a rise in the ‘tech-savvy’ fraudsters
Analysis of cases going through the courts for the first half of 2014, shows that the value of fraud was £317m, down 39% on 2013, of which, some 20% (£62m) was attributed to fraudsters in younger age brackets.
The report also states that victims of fraud are predominantly private investors who fall for the ‘false promise’ of a return on investment. The research shows that individual investor victims have increased, with losses of £153m up from £74m in the first half of 2013.
In other words, when it comes to investors making rational decisions, greed obscures the reality of what is on offer – a case of if its looks too good to be true, then invariably it is too good to be true. Very much the case of the elephant in the room!
KPMG give a breakdown of the types of fraud in their results. As may be expected, London has the highest level of fraud (70%). The categories of fraud continue to show that ‘boiler room’ fraud continues to be the highest grossing fraud. The categories are:
* Boiler room – £74.0m
* Investment fraud – £73.2m
* VAT fraud (MTIC) – £30.0m
* Tax fraud – evasion of duty – £18.1m
* Ponzi scheme – £10.6m
* VAT fraud (non-MTIC) – £10.3m
* Fraudulent trading/miss-selling – £9.7m
* Mortgage fraud – £9.7m
* Tax evasion/fraud – £7.9m
* Fraud by abuse of position – £7.7m
For help with fraud prevention and detection, contact Shaun Walbridge FCCA MAE MEWI for further information.
Further information on KPMG’s Fraud Barometer may be found at http://www.kpmg.com/UK/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/NewsReleases/Pages/face-of-fraud-changes.aspx
© Matrix Forensic 2014
