Bank account fraud increasing, stats show

There has been a considerable rise in the fraudulent use of bank accounts during the first five months of this year.

Cifas, the UK's fraud prevention service, revealed there were almost 16,000 reports of this sort of crime during this period.

This marks a 1% increase on last year's figures, which were 42% higher than those seen in 2008.

More than three-quarters of the reported crimes involved a bank account, with two-thirds concerning altered or false cheques being paid in.

Dean Bove, Cifas Communications Officer, said: "Legitimately obtained accounts are increasingly targeted by organised criminals trying to hide their criminal proceeds within the financial system."

He added that consumers need to be aware of the risks of conducting financial transactions on behalf of another person.

Cifas recently revealed that there is an increased risk of staff fraud in companies, with a 45% rise in incidents reported in 2009 compared to the year before.

Posted by Martin Ellis