Call for businessess to work together in face of rising fraud levels

Business fraud increased by 25% in the year ending March 2022, according to latest ONS statistics, compared with 2020, and the Government believes it is set to increase by another 25%.

Now, the Police-backed North West Fraud Forum (NWFF) is calling on businesses across the region to work together to combat the increasing risk of business fraud.

New figures from Action Fraud found there were £183.4m losses reported to the organisation from almost 42,000 cases of fraud in the North West over the past year.
Within the Greater Manchester region, there are reported losses for £70.3m and just over 16,000 cases of fraud.

The cost of living crisis and economic turmoil has increased the risks to both individuals and businesses. The NWFF says it can help businesses by educating around the different types of fraud.

Detective Inspector Shifa Chowdhury Jones, of the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit and the NWFF’s honorary president, said: “Our statistics show that around 40% of all crime is fraud, so it’s really important that we bring businesses together to share knowledge and information in order to combat fraud.

“Fraud reaches more people than any other crime type and is also believed to be hugely under-reported. We are also requesting that businesses report any types of fraud and attempted fraud to the police or to Action Fraud to ensure we have the relevant information and statistics.”

Claire Graham, partner at law firm TLT and chair of the NWFF, said: “The nature of fraud combined with the accelerated development of technology has meant that some businesses and authorities have found it challenging to ensure their anti-fraud processes are kept updated.

“We know that catching the criminals who commit these crimes can be difficult. This is why prevention and reporting to the police are key to tackling fraud.”

The forum, which brings together businesses with the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, was launched in August 2022.