More than one in ten British adults (11 per cent) say that they have been targeted by fraudsters in the last year, with victims losing an average of £1,016. That is according to research by insolvency trade body R3 (the Association of Business Recovery Professionals) and the pollsters ComRes. Younger people were more likely to say they have been a victim of fraud than older people.
Those aged 25 to 34 are most likely to report being a victim of fraud, with 16pc, about one in six, experiencing fraud in the last year. Fraud victims in this age group say that they lost an average of £1,408 each. R3 president Phillip Sykes says: “It may be surprising that younger generations are the most likely victims of fraud, but online fraud does place younger age groups more at risk.”
“It’s important that consumers don’t take things at face value, especially online. Ecommerce may be convenient but convenience is not a substitute for due diligence. If things look too good to be true, they very often are. Formal insolvency proceedings empower insolvency practitioners to go after fraudsters and return money to victims. In fact in some circumstances, the profession has wider powers than government agencies.”
“The re-introduction of criminal bankruptcy, or making fraudsters bankrupt in the public interest, for example, would extend the circumstances in which an insolvency practitioner can pursue all of a fraudster’s assets on behalf of creditors. Fraudsters would find it much harder to avoid repaying victims by hiding behind companies or squirrelling assets away overseas or with friends and relatives.”
Although the share of over-65 years (12pc) that has been a victim of fraud in the last year is in line with the national average (11pc), the average cost of fraud for this age group was the second highest of all age groups (£1322). The research also found that those most worried about their debts were most likely to be a victim of fraud: 22pc of British adults who are ‘extremely’ worried about their current level of debt have been a victim of fraud in the last year, compared to 7pc of adults not worried about their debts. ComRes interviewed 2011 GB adults online between March 13 and 15, 2015.
Phillip Sykes adds: “It’s saddening that the most financially precarious are also the most vulnerable to fraud. It may be that there’s a role for improved adult financial education. A lack of knowledge about finances can not only contribute to financial difficulties but it also makes it easier for fraudsters to perpetrate their scams.”
Londoners are the most likely to fall victim to fraud, with one-in-six (17pc) saying they have been defrauded in the last year.
Separately, R3 has suggested that Criminal Bankruptcy Orders would allow the retrieval of funds from defendants more effectively than is possible under the current system of confiscation or criminal orders. Criminal bankruptcy would mean all of an individual’s assets could be realised to repay victims (rather than just the proceeds of crime), and overseas assets would be easier to retrieve.
The insolvency trade body says that the UK’s fight against fraud has been hampered by cuts to the budgets of the government’s anti-fraud agencies. R3 argues that the powers insolvency practitioners already have to investigate fraud should be more widely used to make up for budget cuts. The trade body suggests that in some cases involving fraud government agencies just can’t afford to pursue.
