Member Article

Yorkshire fraud activity triples to £15 million

Fraud activity in Yorkshire more than tripled during the first half of 2014 compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, rising from £4.9 million to £15 million, according to KPMG’s latest ‘Fraud Barometer’.

The increase was the largest of any English region and saw the number of fraud crimes rise by 64% from 11 to 18%.

While the increase was spread across low (<£1 million) and medium value (£1million - £10 million) crimes, the rise can partly be attributed to a proliferation in fraud among 26-35 year olds.

Vivien Osborne, forensic director at KPMG in Yorkshire, said: “The escalation of fraud activity across Yorkshire, which bucks the national trend, is worrying.

“Young fraudsters are becoming more brazen in abusing their positions of power or trust to fund often luxury lifestyles.

“The findings reinforce the importance of putting robust fraud detection systems in place, but to also avoid falling into the trap of old stereotypes of fraudsters.”

A selection of case studies from the Yorkshire region can be found at the end of this release.

National face of fraud changes as conmen rely on the innocence of youth

Fraud cases totalling £317 million were recorded in the first half of 2014, according to KPMG’s latest Fraud Barometer. The figure represents a 39% drop compared to the same period, last year, but the number of frauds has remained constant.

The data shows that one scam, masterminded by two 26 year olds from Yorkshire, revolved around the hijacking of mobile phone accounts.

Bills totalling £2.8 million were amassed and their crimes were only discovered when customers complained that handsets could not make or receive calls.

Another case involved a 30 year old man who convinced his victims to invest in vintage wine, which they believed would increase in value.

More than 400 people were conned into handing over sums ranging from £20,000 to £2 million, yet their funds were used to purchase a Lamborghini and five bedroom house with a swimming pool.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .