Fraud figures fall

Reported fraud in the UK dropped by a third last year, new figures show.

Fraud fell from £2.1bn in 2011 to £1.37bn, according to a report from accountancy group BDO, based on reported cases of fraud of more than £50,000.

Simon Bevan, BDO’s head of fraud services, said the large drop in overall fraud “should be treated with some scepticism” because the police do not have the resources to investigate large complex frauds in parallel.

“That said, the financial sector has made significant investments in certain types of fraud prevention over the last few years,” he added.

Fraud in the finance and insurance sector fell from about £830m in 2011 to just less than £500m last year, the lowest level since 2007.