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Latest TI index points to conflict and corruption links
Transparency International (TI) warned that "conflict creates opportunities for corruption and subverts governments' efforts to stop it" as it unveiled its 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) [1] on 31 January [2022]: 180 countries were scored on perceived levels of public sector corruption from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean), with the average 43.
Online Published Date:
02 February 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
UK push payment fraud victims face reimbursement lottery, say MPs
A British parliamentary committee has found that victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud - where people are tricked into paying fake creditors - face inconsistencies in reimbursement, even when their banks are signed up to the voluntary contingent reimbursement model (CRM) code.
Online Published Date:
09 February 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
Through the keyhole - remote control
The comprehensive and thus far sustained extension of home-based working sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic has fuelled a growing market in surveillance devices to help managers ensure their employees are working rather than shirking. Keith Nuthallstops surfing the Net, after a call from FI, to check out the latest in Big Brother tech.
Online Published Date:
09 February 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
UK pays EU €2.6 billion for pre-Brexit VAT fraud failings
The UK government has paid the European Union (EU) €2.6 billion (US$2.8 billion or UK£2.3 billion) to cover pre-Brexit losses on customs and VAT fraud, between 2011 and 2017, that it failed to stop, meaning it underpaid contributions to the bloc's budget.
Online Published Date:
15 February 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
Fraud enters Strategic Policing Requirement for England & Wales
Now accounting for 41% of all criminal offences in England and Wales, fraud features, for the first time under its own head, in the latest version of the Strategic Policing Requirement, which sets priorities for chief constables and police and crime commissioners; it was last updated in 2015.
Online Published Date:
21 February 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
Value of big UK fraud cases in court up 151% in a year - KPMG study
The combined value of major fraud cases over UK£100,000 (US$120,428) tried in United Kingdom Crown Courts rose 151% in a year, from UK£444.7 million (US$535.49 million) in 2021 to UK£1.12 billion (US$1.35 billion) in 2022, returning to pre-pandemic levels, according to the KPMG Fraud Barometer.
Online Published Date:
23 February 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
British elderly fleeced of UK£1.2 million daily - Action Fraud data
The UK government has been accused of being "asleep at the wheel in the fight against fraud" by the opposition Liberal Democrats party, which has secured data showing elderly victims (over-65s) are losing UK£1.2 million (US$1.45 million) daily.
Online Published Date:
01 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
Sweden's Ericsson on hook for US$206m fine after breaching US DPA terms
Swedish telecommunications major Ericsson has agreed to plead guilty to past accusations of paying bribes and falsifying books and records,after accepting it had breached a US deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). It will now have to pay an additionalcriminal penalty exceeding US$206 million.
Online Published Date:
07 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
Rio Tinto pays US$15m over agent activity in Guinea
Global mining group Rio Tinto plc agreed, on 6 March [2023], to pay US$15 million to settle charges, brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), that it had paid bribes to a consultant in Guinea.
Online Published Date:
08 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
Hidden agendas - how to counter bias in investigations
Everyone is a product of nature, nurture and experience, which will tend us to points of view and preconceptions that operate against objective, rational analysis of a problem or case. Keith Nuthall asks seasoned investigators how they resist the urge to jump to conclusions.
Online Published Date:
10 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
Powers of persuasion - the rise of business email compromise and deepfake audio
Urgent contact from a senior manager - on email, by phone - insisting on immediate payment; it might be to a new account but otherwise all evidence points to a genuine instruction. 'All' evidence...? Keith Nuthalltakes a close look at communications crafted for lucrative deception.
Online Published Date:
14 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
War by other means - hacking on the eastern front
The electronic battlefield is just as hard fought over as physical territory in the Ukraine-Russia conflict with each seeking to (re)gain ground and cripple supply lines, infrastructure and communications. Dylan Carter, Ekaterina Mereminskaia and Keith Nuthall report on the cyber campaign.
Online Published Date:
15 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
SFO tagging fraud case against ex-G4S executives collapses
The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has once again failed in a high-profile prosecution after acase against three former executives of a subsidiary of security corporation G4S over a tagging contract collapsed in London's Old Bailey on 10 March.
Online Published Date:
16 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
Mind games - psychology and victimhood
Why people fall prey to fraudsters deserves much more study, say academics. Paul Cochranelooks at how much we already know and some of the gaps still to be filled.
Online Published Date:
18 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
Understanding behavioural risk in fraud prevention
While fraudster profiling in itself may be beneficial, when combined with a behavioural risk assessment using a variety of research methods, investigators can narrow the field and focus their efforts on those most likely to be dishonest. Vera Cherepanova takes us through this more holistic approach.
Online Published Date:
18 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
New tech, new frauds - trends
The constant march of technological innovation and its exploitation by scammers creates an ever-evolving landscape for counter-fraud professionals to navigate. Jess Lempit and Marcus Fishburn of S-RM discuss 'merge scams' from blockchain upgrades and a boom in synthetic identity fraud.
Online Published Date:
18 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
When is 'open-source' a usable resource?
Fraud investigators and journalists now rely heavily on digitally-stored information, but its provenance and use can trigger legal grey areas. Eugene Dizenko of Vantage Intelligence discusses complexities of open-source intelligence.
Online Published Date:
18 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
ChatGPT - capable of identity fraud?
A step-change in artificial intelligence points to ever greater difficulty in distinguishing human from machine, real from fake, which raises the bar for combating criminals doubtless already exploring how to leverage the new tech. Simon Horswell of Onfido assesses the challenge.
Online Published Date:
23 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
UK telecoms regulator study shows 43 million online users have spotted fraud
Research commissioned by British telecoms regulator Ofcom has concluded that 87% of UK adults accessing the Internet - or 43 million people - have seen content they suspected to be a scam or fraud.
Online Published Date:
23 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
ChatGPT - next-level online risk and defence
With its advanced Large Language Model enabling rich, human-like responses, Open AI's ChatGPT chatbot has generated huge public interest, says Iain Swaine of BioCatch. People have already used it in highly inventive ways, some innocent, like stand-up comedy scripting, others not so - think AI-generated articles that pass university-level assessments and the spread of misinformation.
Online Published Date:
23 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023
Cross-border currents - EPPO says VAT evasion accounts for 47% of EU funds fraud
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has warned in its latest 2022 annual report that last year, cross-border VAT fraud accounted for 47% of the estimated €14.1 billion lost to frauds affecting European Union (EU) revenue and expenditure. That covers the 1,117 active EPPO investigations by the end of 2022, a year in which the office received and processed 3318 crime reports and opened 865 inquiries.
Online Published Date:
23 March 2023
Appeared in issue:
April/May 2023 - 03 April 2023