We can expect to see a rise in fraud in 2021, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the online launch event of the North West Fraud Forum heard yesterday. Hence the need for police, industry and others to collaborate, as in such regional forums.
In a panel discussion that rounded off the three-hour launch, the rise was explained by job losses, as in the hospitality sector. People trying to make ends meet may decide to allow their bank accounts to be used to commit fraud – known as misuse of facilities, more commonly as ‘money mules’. Another banking-related possibility is manipulation of applications for mortgages or for borrowing.
An example of public and private sector collaboration at work was given as the banking protocol, whereby since 2016 bank staff have been able to call for a police response where they suspect a customer transaction is fraudulent. In the four years since, some £128m has been saved that would otherwise ‘have gone out the door’. One example given was of a man who went into a branch to withdraw cash; he had taken out a business banking loan for the maximum of £50,000, and wanted it all in cash. Staff using the protocol brought in police who made three arrests.
Police speakers made plain that collaboration is necessary because of the sheer amount of fraud around; the event heard that it is ‘physically impossbile’ to respond to all cases of fraud; the view was given that even if all police devoted themselves to fraud, that would still not meet the demand. Police admitted that the much-criticised Action Fraud reporting centre for fraud (last criticised in the January print edition of Professional Security magazine) was ‘not perfect’ but that improvements were coming (depending on funding).
Hence the need for police to draw on others; to carry out educational awareness of the risk of scams, especially to the elderly and other vulnerable. Professional Security put a question about what effect covid has had on fraud; while some of the sorts of fraud may be different – scams about PPE and vaccines – and romance and pet frauds have seen a rise – presumably as people in lockdown are seeking companionship and at risk of being duped out of their money – the methods used by fraudsters remain the same. On an audience poll, most (two-thirds) of those attending did not regard covid-related frauds as their main concern; but other, pre-covid, sorts.
Robert Brooker, chairman of the long-running London Fraud Forum, spoke on the benefits of being a member of a fraud forum (or indeed more than one, if you work and live in different areas); such as learning from seminars, sharing experiences and ideas and networking. He said: “We all have the same problems and concerns; we are not alone in this.”
The event also was talked through the police’s free Cyber Alarm product, described in non-technical terms as the cyber equivalent of a pub or club business being a member of a pubwatch scheme; you agree to feed your intel to the watch scheme, and in return get back details of threats against other members. In cyber terms, that means you (and police) get to hear about unsuccessful cyber attacks – something of use to the authorities to build up a picture of fraud online, but not catered for by Action Fraud. For the Cyber Alarm tool, visit https://cyberalarm.police.uk/.
The recent report The Silent Threat, by the defence think-tank RUSI, was mentioned, that urged the country to treat fraud as a ‘national security concern’, given organised crime and how terrorists use fraud as a way to raise funds.
How to deal with fraudsters when caught also cropped up; while locking up criminals for a long time was described as a ‘great deterrent’, the problem of ‘virtual escapees’ was admitted, whereby thanks to mobile tech (and drones) prisoners are able to carry on their crimes even while in jail; as also set out in the January edition of the magazine.
The launch was hosted by the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU), whose head Det Chief Supt Emily Higham was among the speakers; as was City of London Police Det Chief Supt Alex Rothwell, the head of fraud operations at the force, the UK’s lead on ‘economic crime’, ‘economic’ for short; the forensic accountant at Companies House, Claire Jenkins; and the proceeds of crime investigator Aidan Larkin.
Sgt Shifa Chowdhury Jones of the North West ROCU is chair of the NWFF and chaired the launch webinar. For details about joining, or partnering with, the Forum email [email protected].
More in the March print edition of Professional Security magazine.
