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| | 12/05/2008 - Myanmar Cyclone Appeals (Burma) - online exploitation | | | Dr Stephen Hill ( a member of the London Fraud Forum Steering Group) has passed the following message about bogus appeals connected to the
current crisis in Burma.
Charities are coming under increasing attack from fraudsters who try to use their good name to make a lucrative profit. In the light of the tsunami, fraudsters and con artists hit inboxes on a global scale. Scams come in the form of either modified versions of the classic Nigerian
scam letter, or in the form of a more sophisticated phishing operation,in which potential donors receive an email luring them into making donations to a fake website.
These email scams are engineered to exploit the generosity of people who have rushed online to donate money to the relief effort, only to find out that not only does the donation not reach the beneficiaries but
further amounts are likely to be taken as well as the identity of the card holder.
Reduce the risk:
* if you receive a suspicious email purporting to be from a bona
fide charity which requests personal details in relation to a donation,
do not reply to it
* if you receive a link from an email purporting to be a bona fida
charity then don't click on it - contact the charity direct using either
a number or web address you know to be genuine
* use official channels, such as the Disasters Emergency
Committee's website at www.dec.org.uk
* if you find the email is bogus, report it to the police and the
charity concerned
* be vigilant at all times
Should you have any concerns or require any further information on the above then please contact Dr Stephen Hill, e-Crime & Fraud Manager at Chantrey Vellacott DFK (shill@cvdfk.com ) or by
phone 0207 509 9320.
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| | 20/4/2008 - Attorney General’s Office consultation on 'The Introduction of a Plea Negotiation Framework for Fraud Cases in England and Wales' | | | The Attorney General’s Office has published a consultation paper entitled The Introduction of a Plea Negotiation Framework for Fraud Cases in England and Wales.
The consultation paper is available to download from its website
The closing date for responses is 3 July 2008.
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| | 15/3/2008 - Enhancing procedural rights and judicial co-operation in the EU: Proposed Framework Decision on new rules for cross-border cases where judgements are made in absentia | | | The Office for Criminal Justice Reform is currently undertaking a consultation on Enhancing procedural rights and judicial co-operation in the EU: Proposed Framework Decision on new rules for cross-border cases where judgements are made in absentia.
Consultation information follow the link to the The Office for Criminal Justice Reform website
The closing date for responses is 10 April 2008.
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| | 7/12/2007 - Law Commission Consultations | | | Reforming Bribery
The consultation paper entitled Reforming Bribery is available to download from its website:
Reforming Bribery Consultation
Responses are required by 20 March 2008.
Conspiracy and Attempts
The consultation paper entitled The consultation paper entitled Conspiracy and Attempts is available to download from its website::
Conspiracy and Attempts Consultation
Responses are required by 31 January 2008. | | | |
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| | 11/11/2007 - Update on disclosure of death registration information | | | In July the summary of responses were published and proposed to implement the scheme as described in the consultation paper.
A progress update is now available from: http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/aboutus/lookingahead/identity--fraud.asp
Timeline for Implementation:
It is intended to initiate the scheme in January 2008
From this date any organisation will be able to apply to recieve the information for the purposes of prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of offences, as set out in the Police and Justice Act
Supply of death information will commence in April 2008 for initial approved customers
The scheme will be administered from the General Register Office for England and Wales.
The GRO is keen to hear from recipients who have an interest in receiving death information under the scheme, email: datagro@ons.gsi.gov.uk.
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| | 18/10/2007 - Fighting Fraud Together – the Attorney General sets out a new vision for tackling fraud | | | ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE
20, VICTORIA STREET
LONDON SW1H ONF
Tel: 020 7271 2465/2440 Fax: 020 7271 2432
NEWS RELEASE
__________________________________________________________________
9 OCTOBER 2007
Fighting Fraud Together – the Attorney General sets out a new vision for tackling fraud
Today, the Government gave the green light to a groundbreaking initiative to protect business, taxpayers and the public from fraud.
Over £28 million of new funding has been committed to help make the UK the world’s hardest target for fraudsters.
Welcoming the announcement of the extra funds, the Attorney General said:
“Fraud drives up costs to business; exploits the vulnerable; and robs taxpayers of the public services they have paid for. Business and criminal justice experts strongly welcomed our proposals for a tougher approach to fraud and the new investment announced today means we can put them into practice”.
City Minister, Kitty Ussher said:
“The government is determined to protect the public from crime and keep the UK an honest, fair-dealing place to do business. We’re putting concrete measures in place to protect firms, taxpayers and the public from dishonest criminals who seek to exploit their trust. This is good news for the financial services sector and for the economy as a whole”.
Funding announced as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review paves the way for the key recommendations of a major government review of fraud to be rolled out in the year ahead. These include:
• a new National Strategic Fraud Authority, which will drive forward a comprehensive strategy for tackling fraud that brings together the Government, criminal justice practitioners, business and the public. The NFSA will have a key role in increasing the UK’s resilience against fraud and ensuring the effectiveness of the UK’s response;
• a new Lead Force, centred on the City of London Police, which will act as a centre of excellence to increase the UK’s capability to investigate fraudsters and bring them to justice;
• a National Fraud Reporting Centre, hosted by the Lead Force, which will radically streamline the way that cases of fraud are reported and which will analyse reports to maximise their intelligence value – informing the National Strategy and helping to target investigations and anti-fraud work in the future;
• innovative pilots to measure the impact and cost of fraud, to help identify priority areas for change and assess the impact of anti-fraud effort;
• reforms to the criminal justice system to make sure that fraudsters are brought to justice efficiently and victims are better able to get redress.
Welcoming the announcement as a significant boost to the UK’s financial services industry, Michael Snyder, Chairman of the City of London’s policy committee said:
“I am delighted that the Government has decided to make the City of London Police the lead force in the country for tackling fraud and economic crime. Based in the world’s leading international finance centre, the Square Mile, it has just the right specialist knowledge and expertise for this work. The City of London Corporation, as the City’s Police Authority, will shortly be deciding its own additional funding for this vital work”.
City of London Police Commissioner and ACPO lead for Economic Crime, Mike Bowron, said:
“With this funding, the City of London Police will be able to make serious inroads into reducing the estimated £20 billion a year that fraud is currently costing this country.”
“This is an irresistible opportunity for the Force to take a lead role in making the UK a place where fraudsters don’t want to operate.”
Notes for Editors
The Government published a major review into arrangements for tackling fraud in July 2006, which was established to assess:
(a) the scale of the (fraud) problem;
(b) the appropriate role for Government in dealing with fraud;
(c) how resources could be spent to maximise value for money in this.
Following a public consultation, a shortlist of the Fraud Review’s major proposals was identified for development as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review. The CSR announcement this week confirmed the go-ahead for these with the provision of over £28 million of ring-fenced new funding.
A National Fraud Strategy
The Government Fraud Review identified that the economic and social cost of fraud is severe, and separate research has estimated that reported fraud alone costs the economy and society at least £13.9 billion a year.
To tackle this threat, the Fraud Review argued for the creation of a national coordinating body – the National Fraud Strategic Authority - to deliver a comprehensive programme that attacks fraud through the entire pipeline of deterrence, prevention, detection, investigation, sanction and redress to victims. The NFSA’s anti fraud strategy will be designed to ensure that:
• knowledge of fraud is managed effectively – through proper measurement and information sharing - to drive national improvement in tackling it;
• activity between government, business, regulators, and the criminal justice system is properly coordinated for maximum impact;
• law makers and law enforcers work together to radically change the balance of risk and reward against the fraudster.
The Review also identified:
• scope – through a National Fraud Reporting Centre - to streamline the reporting of cases of fraud and use these to build the UK’s intelligence picture of the threat;
• an opportunity to establish the City of London Police as a lead force and centre of excellence to build the UK’s capacity to investigate fraud;
• areas where better trial management, specifically the creation of a specialist financial court, could increase efficiency in bringing fraudsters to justice.
The CSR funding means that these key proposals will now be rolled out in the coming months.
For media enquiries contact Charlotte Phillips, Senior Press Officer, on 020 7271 2465 or charlotte.phillips@attorneygeneral.gsi.gov.uk.
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| | 23/09/2007 - National ID Theft Awareness Week 8th - 15th october 2007 | | |  Please click on the 'View Guide Book' link below for the official guide book to accompany National Identity Fraud Prevention Week which runs from 8th - 14th October 2007.
For further information see www.stop-idfraud.co.uk
| | View Guide Book | | |
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| | 23/09/02007 - National ID Fraud Prevention Week Quick Reference | | |  Please click on the 'View Quick Guide' link below for a quick reference guide brochure which has been designed to accompany National Identity Fraud Prevention Week which runs from 8th - 14th October 2007.
| | View Quick Guide | | |
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| | 20/9/2007 - The Home Office is currently undertaking a partial regulatory impact assessment on regulations to implement the Private Security Industry Act 2001 in respect of private investigation and precognition agents. | | | This assessment outlines four possible options for licensing as follows:
1. Do Nothing (Neither sector would be subject to regulation under the Act; Industry would self-regulate without SIA regulation)
2. Alternatives to Regulation (Neither sector would be subject to regulation under the Act; Supports alternative measures such as promotion of best practice for sectors, campaigns to raise public awareness, support work of Skills for Security)
3. Licensing with No Competency Criteria (Licensing of private investigation and/or precognition agent sectors; Requirement for applicants to meet 'fit and proper person', mental health and identity criteria and pay licence fee)
4. Licensing with Competency Criteria (Licensing of private investigation and/or precognition agent sectors; Requirements for applicants to meet 'fit and proper person', mental health and identity criteria as well as core competency requirements through training and assessment)
The closing date for responses is 24 October 2007.
The Home Link for further information is:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Regulation_of_Security_Indu1.pdf?version=1
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| | 3/9/2007 - Verified by Mastercard & Visa held a success by APACS for on-line payments | | | Two schemes that help prevent credit card fraud on the Internet have won praise. Verified by Visa and MasterCard Secure Code were hailed by the Association of Payment and Clearing Services (APACS), which encouraged more people to sign up to the schemes. More than 10 million credit and debit cards in the UK are registered with secure online payment systems such as these. Details of how to register new cards can be found on the websites of the card issuer and the APACS website. "The industry has worked hard to provide practical solutions to fight online shopping fraud and we are calling on those cardholders not yet signed up to do so and take the appropriate security measures when shopping online," said Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS. The government joined APACS in praising the schemes and called on more people to sign up.
http://www.apacs.org.uk
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| | 12/7/2007 - Identity does matter: the 1st European Summit announced | | | | Home Office statistics put the cost of identity fraud to the UK economy alone at £1.7 billion. The rapid rise of this 21st century crime across Europe makes it an industry worth billions of euros. It is of growing concern to individuals who are becoming ever more sensitive about how their personal information is stored and who has access to it. It is also of increasing concern to businesses as they struggle to combat fraud and financial crime amid changing consumer behaviour and attitudes. For this reason a new European Summit has been announced, supported by government, law enforcement agencies, large corporate and consumer bodies alike. Delegates from across all sectors from banking to online gaming, social networking to money transfer firms will gather in London on November 20 and 21 to hear world class speakers address the whole issue of identity – and why it matters.
To read a copy of the report follow the below link:
http://www.onrec.com/newsstories/17494.asp
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| | 6/7/2007 - The latest Asset Recovery Working Group/Payback Proceeds of Crime Update | | |
The latest Asset Recovery Working Group/Payback (National) Proceeds of Crime Update can be seen following the below link:
Update No 85.
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| | 6/7/2007 - Response to consultation on proposals to disclose death registration information | | | The Registrars General for England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have issued the summary of responses to its recent consultation on proposals to disclose death registration information for the purposes of crime prevention, detection and investigation (particularly impersonation of deceased people).
To view the response follow the below link:
Response consultation on proposals to disclose death registration information.
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| | 5/7/2007 - Speech by Philip Robinson, Financial Crime & Intelligence Division Director at the FSA | | |
To read a copy of the Speech by Philip Robinson follow the below link:
Philip Robinson's speech.
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| | 5/7/2007 - FSA finds poor practice by intermediaries and lenders within sub-prime market | | | The Financial Services Authority (FSA) today published its latest review of the behaviour of intermediaries and lenders within the sub-prime mortgage market, which services consumers with impaired credit histories. It has found weaknesses in responsible lending practices and in firms’ assessments of a consumer’s ability to afford a mortgage. As a result the regulator has started enforcement action against five firms.
To read a copy of the report follow the below link:
FSA review of the behaviour of intermediaries and lenders within the sub-prime mortgage market.
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