CIFAS – the UK's Fraud Prevention Service has released Fraudscape: a 48-page report that lays bare the frauds recorded by the 260 cross-sector CIFAS Members during 2011, in the context of previous years.

Divided into several easy-to-read sections, Fraudscape gives an overview, and examines identity related crime (frauds related to the misuse and hijack of an innocent party’s identity details), geography and location, first party fraud (frauds committed by the genuine account holder) and fraud in terms of the products targeted.

2011 saw more frauds (236,516) recorded by CIFAS Members than in any previous year. This represents a 9% increase from 2010. For more on the story:

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Two men have been convicted of taking part in a "Ponzi" scheme.

John Anderson, 46, from West Hampstead, and Kenneth Peacock, 43, from Surrey, were found guilty of unauthorised regulated activity.

The scheme's mastermind, Kautilya Pruthi, 41, of Wandsworth, London, had already admitted his role in the scheme.

The total amount of large scale UK fraud in 2011 topped £3.5bn – a record year – according to KPMG's Fraud Barometer, as the country continues to struggle with tough economic conditions.

The majority (£2.5bn worth of fraud) was recorded during the second half of the year, including five cases of more than £50m each. One rogue trader case alone accounted for £1.3bn and, even without its inclusion, the six months to December 2011 would still have seen the largest amount of fraud ever recorded by KPMG in a six month period. For the full story:

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Analysis of frauds recorded on the CIFAS Staff Fraud Database reveals an alarming increase in the level of fraud being committed by employees during 2011 (when compared with 2010), most notably:

• A 14.5% overall increase in the number of insider frauds recorded in 2011 when compared with 2010.

• A 41% spike in the number of dishonest actions by staff to gain a benefit by theft or deception (e.g. theft of cash from customer accounts).

• A decrease in the number of unauthorised disclosure of data frauds, which demonstrates the increasing preventative measures taken by organisations against this threat.

• Levels of fraudulent attempts to gain employment remain relatively stable.

For the full story:

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