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Fraud increased during 2009

By Marianne Straker, Wed 3 Feb 2010 - Published in Home Insurance

The recession has caused fraud to increase over the last year, research has shown.

A new report from UK fraud prevention service CIFAS revealed there was a nine per cent rise in fraud during 2009, when compared to the previous year.

The study found a 55 per cent increase in false insurance claims during the last 12 months, with more bold crimes - such as claiming for staged or completely fictitious events - being reported.

In addition, the research discovered that identity fraud has grown by 32 per cent year-on-year. More than 85,000 people were victims of impersonation and 24,000 saw their accounts taken over by criminals in 2009.

Peter Hurst, CIFAS chief executive, commented: "The trends identified by CIFAS members during 2009 … demonstrate that it is not just a few thousand extra people turning to crime to make ends meet. It is a whole criminal element changing its behaviour."

Recent research from card protection provider CPP found that Cardiff is the worst city in the UK for credit card fraud, followed by London, Norwich, Southampton and Leeds.