Tweet
Latest Fraudscape - UK Fraud Trends report published by CIFAS
https://www.cifas.org.uk/fraudscape_latest
Fraud in 2014: A summary
Download the full Fraudscape report here
https://www.cifas.org.uk/fraudscape_latest
Fraud in 2014: A summary
Download the full Fraudscape report here
Bank accounts see sharpest rise
The greatest increase in Identity Frauds, in terms of both the number of cases (23,686 cases in 2014 compared with 12,544 in 2013)
and as a percentage (+89%), was where a fictitious or stolen identity was used to obtain bank accounts. This finding is concerning when
the potential uses of fraudulent bank accounts are considered. It is not unreasonable to assume that the intended purpose – for some
of these accounts – will be to launder money (move criminally obtained funds). Criminals do not always open new accounts to launder
money. Often, they will use “money mules”: genuine account holders who are either complicit or scammed into moving criminal money
around. It is not possible from Cifas data to understand exactly how the accounts are being used, or intended to be used, but it is clearly
an area for further research in 2015/16. In 2014 Cifas published advice on how to avoid becoming a ‘money mule’, available at
www.cifas.org.uk/research_and_reports
Other valuable uses for a bank account in someone else’s name include diverting payments due to go to someone else (for example, a
loan taken out in that same person’s name or an insurance pay-out) or simply seeking to obtain chequebooks and overdraft facilities as a
source of free money.
Almost 10 % of Identity Frauds against bank accounts involved an entirely fictitious identity (as opposed to one stolen from a genuine
person), almost double the rate for other types of Identity Fraud.
The greatest increase in Identity Frauds, in terms of both the number of cases (23,686 cases in 2014 compared with 12,544 in 2013)
and as a percentage (+89%), was where a fictitious or stolen identity was used to obtain bank accounts. This finding is concerning when
the potential uses of fraudulent bank accounts are considered. It is not unreasonable to assume that the intended purpose – for some
of these accounts – will be to launder money (move criminally obtained funds). Criminals do not always open new accounts to launder
money. Often, they will use “money mules”: genuine account holders who are either complicit or scammed into moving criminal money
around. It is not possible from Cifas data to understand exactly how the accounts are being used, or intended to be used, but it is clearly
an area for further research in 2015/16. In 2014 Cifas published advice on how to avoid becoming a ‘money mule’, available at
www.cifas.org.uk/research_and_reports
Other valuable uses for a bank account in someone else’s name include diverting payments due to go to someone else (for example, a
loan taken out in that same person’s name or an insurance pay-out) or simply seeking to obtain chequebooks and overdraft facilities as a
source of free money.
Almost 10 % of Identity Frauds against bank accounts involved an entirely fictitious identity (as opposed to one stolen from a genuine
person), almost double the rate for other types of Identity Fraud.
