About
The Eastern Fraud Forum
Who are we?
Fraud costs the UK billions of pounds annually and is now believed to account for 40% of all crimes committed in the jurisdiction. With only finite public resources available to tackle this economic pandemic, it is becoming more vital than ever that businesses and industry – which are often at the front line in dealing with the risks posed by fraud – are equipped to tackle this problem head-on and protect and preserve their legitimate interests.
The Eastern Fraud Forum (EFF) has been set up to increase the resilience of regional organisations – in both the private and public sectors – to the threats posed by fraud. Run as a collaboration between professional advisors, industry members, the Police and other governmental agencies, the objective of the Forum is simple: to promote fraud awareness, to allow members to understand how best to mitigate against the risks involved, and to increase knowledge of how to respond effectively to fraud if and when it occurs.
The latest statistics from Action Fraud highlight that during 2020-2021 there were £2.35bn of reported losses due to fraud crime. The top three fraud types were: -
Other Financial Investment
Cheque, Plastic Card and Online Bank Accounts
Share Sales or Boiler Room Fraud
The key threats for 2021/22 are identified as Courier, Romance, Payment Diversion, Investment, Computer Software Service and frauds linked to Card and Online Bank Accounts. Following the pandemic, there has been a 40% rise in push payment scams, and it is thought that 80% of fraud is cyber-enabled.