Fraud

====United Kingdom====
In 2016 the estimated value lost through fraud in the UK was £193 billion a year.<ref>{{cite news|title=UK fraud costing '£193bn a year', new study suggests|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-36379546|access-date=6 September 2017|agency=BBC|date=25 May 2016|archive-date=7 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907035656/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-36379546|url-status=live}}</ref>

In January 2018 the ''[[Financial Times]]'' reported that the value of UK fraud hit a 15-year high of £2.11bn in 2017, according to a study. The article said that the accountancy firm BDO examined reported fraud cases worth more than £50,000 and found that the total number rose to 577 in 2017, compared with 212 in 2003. The study found that the average amount stolen in each incident rose to £3.66m, up from £1.5m in 2003.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/7fb80c16-f6c5-11e7-8715-e94187b3017e |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/7fb80c16-f6c5-11e7-8715-e94187b3017e |archive-date=10 December 2022|title=UK fraud hits 15-year high with value of £2bn|work=Financial Times|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

As at November 2017, fraud is the most common criminal offence in the UK according to a study by Crowe Clark Whitehill, Experian and the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cityam.com/275550/fraud-costs-uk-economy-gbp190bn-incidents-soar |title=Fraud costs the UK economy £190bn as incidents soar &#124; City A.M. |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113222159/http://www.cityam.com/275550/fraud-costs-uk-economy-gbp190bn-incidents-soar |archive-date=13 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The study suggests the UK loses over £190 billion per year to fraud. £190 billion is more than 9% of the UK's projected GDP for 2017 ($2,496 (£2,080) billion according to ''Statistics Times''.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}) The estimate for fraud in the UK figure is more than the entire GDP of countries such as Romania, Qatar and Hungary.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.enterprisetimes.co.uk/2017/11/13/experian-claims-fraud-costs-uk-190-billion-per-year|title=Experian claims fraud costs GB£190 billion per year|work=Enterprise Times|date=13 November 2017|last1=Murphy|first1=Ian|access-date=13 November 2017|archive-date=13 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113222422/https://www.enterprisetimes.co.uk/2017/11/13/experian-claims-fraud-costs-uk-190-billion-per-year/|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to another review by the UK anti-fraud charity [[Fraud Advisory Panel]] (FAP), business fraud accounted for £144bn, while fraud against individuals was estimated at £9.7bn. The FAP has been particularly critical of the support available from the police to victims of fraud in the UK outside of London. Although victims of fraud are generally referred to the UK's national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, [[Action Fraud]], the FAP found that there was "little chance" that these crime reports would be followed up with any kind of substantive law enforcement action by UK authorities, according to the report.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.fraudadvisorypanel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/The-Fraud-Review-Ten-Years-On-WEB.pdf|title=The Fraud Review Ten Years On|publisher=Fraud Advisory Panel|year=2016|access-date=14 July 2016|archive-date=21 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821002419/https://www.fraudadvisorypanel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/The-Fraud-Review-Ten-Years-On-WEB.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 2016, it was reported that fraudulent activity levels in the UK increased in the 10 years leading up to 2016 from £52 billion to £193 bn. This figure would be a conservative estimate, since as the former commissioner of the [[City of London Police]], Adrian Leppard, has said, only 1 in 12 such crimes are actually reported.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2016/july/report-highlights-same-failings-in-fight-against-fraud-10-years-on/|title=Report highlights 'same failings' in fight against fraud 10 years on|website=www.out-law.com|access-date=18 September 2016|archive-date=26 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826172204/http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2016/july/report-highlights-same-failings-in-fight-against-fraud-10-years-on/|url-status=live}}</ref> Donald Toon, director of the NCA's economic crime command, stated in July 2016: "The annual losses to the UK from fraud are estimated to be more than £190bn". Figures released in October 2015 from the Crime Survey of England and Wales found that there had been 5.1 million incidents of fraud in England and Wales in the previous year, affecting an estimated one in 12 adults and making it the most common form of crime.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36825605|title=UK fraud police release wanted list|date=18 July 2016|newspaper=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=18 September 2016|archive-date=28 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928072518/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36825605|url-status=live}}</ref>

Also in July 2016, the [[Office for National Statistics]] (ONS) stated "Almost six million fraud and cyber crimes were committed last year in England and Wales and estimated there were two million computer misuse offences and 3.8 million fraud offences in the 12 months to the end of March 2016." Fraud affects one in ten people in the UK. According to the ONS, most fraud relates to bank account fraud. These figures are separate from the headline estimate that another 6.3 million crimes (distinct from fraud) were perpetrated in the UK against adults in the year to March 2016.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36854413|title=Nearly six million fraud and cyber crimes last year, ONS says|date=21 July 2016|newspaper=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=18 September 2016|archive-date=23 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923120128/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36854413|url-status=live}}</ref>

Fraud was not included in a "Crime Harm Index" published by the [[Office for National Statistics]] in 2016. Michael Levi, professor of criminology at Cardiff University, remarked in August 2016 that it was "deeply regrettable" that fraud was being left out of the first index despite being the most common crime reported to police in the UK. Levi said "If you've got some categories that are excluded, they are automatically left out of the police's priorities."{{citation needed|reason=[[WP:DAILYMAIL]]|date=October 2019}} The Chief of the [[National Audit Office (United Kingdom)|National Audit Office]] (NAO), Sir Anyas Morse has also said "For too long, as a low-value but high-volume crime, online fraud has been overlooked by government, law enforcement and industry. It is now the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales and demands an urgent response."<ref>{{cite news|title=Online fraud costs public billions but is still not a police priority, says watchdog|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/30/online-costs-public-billions-but-is-still-not-a-police-priority-says-watchdog|access-date=6 September 2017|agency=Press Association|newspaper=The Guardian|date=30 June 2017|archive-date=7 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907033658/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/30/online-costs-public-billions-but-is-still-not-a-police-priority-says-watchdog|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[HM Treasury]] issued guidance to [[central government|central government departments]] in January 2011 concerned with "Tackling Internal Fraud", concerned that economic pressures and potential staff redundancies at the time might lead those staff who "might be tempted" to commit fraud to make more of any opportunity which might arise, noting a possible shift in the balance between "the reward from fraud" and the risk of detection.<ref name=treasury>{{OGL-attribution|HM Treasury, [https://pdf4pro.com/view/tackling-internal-fraud-uk-government-web-archive-407b6.html Tackling Internal Fraud], published January 2011, archived version accessed 9 November 2022}}</ref> An aspect of the guidance was to equip staff to look out for "fraud indicators": clues or hints that an individual member of staff, team or area of activity might need "a closer look".<ref name=treasury />{{rp|Section 4.16}}

In 2022, the television program ''[[Scam Interceptors]]'' revealed that the majority of fraud in the United Kingdom was perpetrated from industrial-scale scamming [[call centre]]s in Asia.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dathan |first=Matt |date=10 April 2023 |title=Labour vows to bar foreign scam callers using UK numbers |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/labour-vows-to-bar-foreign-scam-callers-using-uk-numbers-ckbmb9sfb |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=8 May 2023 |archive-date=9 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509180515/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/labour-vows-to-bar-foreign-scam-callers-using-uk-numbers-ckbmb9sfb |url-status=live }}</ref>

=====England, Wales, and Northern Ireland=====
Since 2007, fraud in [[England and Wales]] and [[Northern Ireland]] has been covered by the [[Fraud Act 2006]]. The Act was given [[royal assent]] on 8 November 2006, and came into effect on 15 January 2007.<ref>{{cite legislation UK |si=The Fraud Act 2006 (Commencement) Order 2006 |type=si |year=2006 |number=3200 |date=29 November 2006}}</ref>

The Act gives a statutory definition of the criminal offence of fraud, defining it in three classes—fraud by false representation, fraud by failing to disclose information, and fraud by abuse of position. It provides that a person found guilty of fraud is liable to a fine or imprisonment for up to six months on [[summary conviction]], or a fine or imprisonment for up to ten years on conviction on [[indictment]]. This Act largely replaces the laws relating to obtaining property by deception, obtaining a pecuniary advantage and other offences that were created under the [[Theft Act 1978]].

======Serious Fraud Office======
{{Main|Serious Fraud Office (United Kingdom)|Cifas}}
The [[Serious Fraud Office (United Kingdom)|Serious Fraud Office]] is an arm of the Government of the United Kingdom, accountable to the [[Attorney General for England and Wales]].

The [[National Fraud Authority]] (NFA) was, until 2014, a government agency coordinating the counter-fraud response in the UK.

[[Cifas]] is a British fraud prevention service, a not-for-profit membership organization for all sectors that enables organizations to share and access fraud data using their databases. Cifas is dedicated to the prevention of fraud, including internal fraud by staff, and the identification of financial and related crime.

=====Scotland=====
In [[Scots law]], fraud is covered under the common law and a number of statutory offences. The main fraud offences are common law fraud, uttering, embezzlement, and statutory fraud. The Fraud Act 2006 does not apply in Scotland.