The value of fraud committed in the UK last year rose to a record value of 拢1.1 billion on the back of a huge increase in cyber crime.
Accountants KPMG reported the 55 per cent year-on-year rise and issued a warning about large-scale cyber scams.
It was the first time the value of fraud going through the court system had topped 拢1bn since 2011.
Hitesh Patel, UK forensic partner at KPMG, said: 鈥淭he figures for 2016 tell us two things.
鈥淔irstly, that we can expect more of these super frauds as challenging economic circumstances place pressures on businesses and individuals and as technology becomes more sophisticated.
鈥淪econdly, that this is going to put even more strain on law enforcement agencies who don鈥檛 have the resources to investigate every report of fraud that they receive: getting the large, often cross-border and complex frauds to court is extremely time consuming and resource intensive.
鈥淭his places much more emphasis on businesses and consumers to protect themselves from fraudsters who will take advantage given the opportunity.鈥�
The UK head of tech at KPMG yesterday welcomed the Government’s focus on technology as part of a 拢556 million聽investment into the North鈥檚 industrial future.
KMPG reported that seven 鈥榮uper cases鈥�, with a value of 拢50m or over, contributed 拢900m to the overall figure. The number of individual instances of fraud was lower than the year before.
One 鈥榮uper case鈥� was a 拢113m cold-calling scam targeting Royal Bank of Scotland customers for which Feezan Hameed was handed an 11-year jail sentence in September.
Patel continued: 鈥淭hrough the rapid rise of technology and online platforms, more people than ever are being targeted by fraudsters who have unrestricted access to a larger pool of victims.
鈥淗owever, we are also seeing the internet being used by consumers who are being tempted to obtain goods and services that they have, or perhaps should have, a fair idea are not legitimate.鈥�
罢别肠丑鲍碍听谤别肠别苍迟濒测听launched a set of high level principles designed to help build public confidence in the Internet of Things after a number of high-profile incidents saw IoT devices and sensors compromised by cyber criminals.