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The deepfake state
While deepfake technology first dates from 1997, it is only since the late 2010s that we have seen widespread use - and misuse - of doctored imagery, including by scammers. Esther Martin reports on recent developments in this evolving arena.
Online Published Date:
29 September 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
EU fraud case numbers flat in 2021 but value more than doubles to ?3.24 billion
Case numbers forboth fraud and non-fraudulent irregularities against the European Union (EU) budget detected by EU and member state authorities remained stable in 2021 compared to 2020, but the amounts involved more than doubled to ?3.24 billion (US$3.17 billion) from ?1.46 billion (US$1.43 billion), according to the latest report from the bloc's anti-fraud office OLAF.
Online Published Date:
29 September 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Ransomware: to pay or not to pay?
With ransomware posing the most significant cyber threat in the United Kingdom, hundreds of businesses each year face the dilemma of how to respond to a raid on their valuable data. After seeing increasing numbers of ransoms disbursed, the Information Commissioner's Office and National Cyber Security Centre have stepped in with a joint letter to the legal profession to discourage such payments. Rhiannon Webster and Will Chalk of Ashurst report on the guidance along with requirements under the law.
Online Published Date:
03 October 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Enforcement of foreign bribery bans sinks, says TI
Enforcement action to tackle foreign bribery, in compliance with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, declinedfrom 2018 to 2021, according to Transparency International (TI), after reviewing 47 leading exporting economies.
Online Published Date:
14 October 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Damage limitation - effective post-incident communications
In the event of economic crime, how an organisation comes through may be as much down to how it manages disclosures and responds to questions from different stakeholders as to the quality of any forensic investigation. Ryan McSharry of Infinite Global offers a primer in crisis comms.
Online Published Date:
19 October 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
UK fraud down but remains a national security threat, say banks
British banking trade association UK Finance is warning that "the level of fraud in the UK has reached a point where it must be considered a national security threat". In its '2022 half year fraud update', it says that despite spending billions on fraud prevention, "the banking sector cannot solve this on its own".
Online Published Date:
19 October 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Wilful neglect
The UK Government has promised a Fraud Action Plan before the year is out: it can't come soon enough - the House of Commons Justice Committee describes an "epidemic of fraud cases in England and Wales", now topping 40% of all recorded crime, in its latest report. The Economic Crime Plan 2019-22 estimated fraud costs to the UK at UK?4.7 billion annually, but that was before Covid-19: the latest National Audit Office report into employment support schemes reckons the loss to fraud and error was UK?4.5 billion. Peers are also seized of the issue: the House of Lords Fraud Act 2006 and Digital Fraud Committee notes, in a separate report, published on 12 November, that Office of National Statistics figures show fraud in the year to end of March 2022 to be 25% higher than for the year to end of March 2020.
Online Published Date:
27 October 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Interpol: financial and cybercrime top global police concerns
More than 60% of police officers surveyed worldwide ranked crimes such as money laundering, ransomware, phishing and online frauds as high or very high threats, in Interpol's first-ever Global Crime Trend report. Furthermore, more than 70% expect crimes such as ransomware and phishing attacks to increase or significantly increase over the next three to five years.
Online Published Date:
27 October 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Glencore to pay UK £281m in UK fines over African oil bribery
International and Switzerland-based mining major Glencore has settled UK bribery cases brought by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), acceptinga UK£280.9 million (US$314.5 million) penalty ordered by Southwark Crown Court, London.
Online Published Date:
03 November 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Benefits fraud may become 'normal' unless government acts, warn MPs
Fraud and error in the UK benefits system are "unacceptably high," say MPs.
Online Published Date:
09 November 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Law Commission proposes overhaul of criminal confiscation in UK
A legislative watchdog has recommended wholesale reforms in how the UK confiscates the proceeds of crime post conviction
Online Published Date:
09 November 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Long Covid: dishonest consequences
The economic crime impact of Covid-19 is incalculably greater than even the most accurate estimates of losses to wrongful claims on government support schemes: the lockdowns drove everyone online, suggesting new opportunities to gain at others' expense, whether at work remotely, perhaps merely by loaning personal credentials for a fee or as a social engineer to steal the same and access accounts. Paul Cochrane looks at the legacy effect of the pandemic on fraudulent behaviour as well as how it is affecting a specific demographic.
Online Published Date:
10 November 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Dark web crypto fraudster convicted in US after US$3.36 billion bitcoin found in house
The crypto adept behind a massive Bitcoin fraud on the notorious former darknet marketplace the Silk Road, favoured by drug dealers and other bad actors, has been convicted after pleading guilty on 4 November [2022] in a New York court.
Online Published Date:
10 November 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
EU police and judicial agencies direct raids on crypto investment fraud gang taking ?200m per year
An international operation led by the European Union's (EU) police and judicial agencies, Europol and Eurojust, brought down the criminal gang behind a multimillion-Euro crypto investment scam.
Online Published Date:
16 November 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Global endeavour - building trust in digital identity
Necessity may be the mother of invention but so is frustration. A far from smooth onboarding experience when opening online bank accounts prompted David Chadwick of Crossword Cybersecurity to develop a standard format for identity documents, currently under consideration by W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium.
Online Published Date:
17 November 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
Logistics tricks
Transport and freightdeliver rich opportunities for dishonesty, Poorna Rodrigo and Keith Nuthalldiscover, ranging from diversion and shrinkage through false emissions readings and adulteration.
Online Published Date:
18 November 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022
UK police response: the few come out fighting
Senior members of the United Kingdom's counter-fraud police, along with the Director General of the National Economic Crime Centre, shared with the London Fraud Forum their latest strategies against the formidable threat. By Esther Martin.
Online Published Date:
18 November 2022
Appeared in issue:
December/January 2023 - 29 September 2022