Graydon and Cifas, the UK fraud prevention service, announced new fraud analysis indicating a huge rise in attempted commercial fraud in the first 6 months of 2020.

Graydon data from its sector intelligence networks has shown a rise of 66% in the value of the average suspected fraudulent application, and the average weekly value detected tops £1 million, an increase of 100% on the average weekly amount identified in 2019.

In just the first 6 months of 2020, a total amount of £26.3m has been detected in trade credit fraud. It’s not just businesses who find themselves the victims either. The coronavirus forced local authorities to respond quickly and provide access to government-provided grants. Cifas intelligence has picked up changing fraud since the coronavirus (COVID-19) started to spread in the UK and continues to increase daily. Cifas understand that of the 5,000 grant applications received by just one council, one in ten was flagged as potentially being linked to fraud.

Cifas have also been asked by the British Business Bank to create a solution to prevent multiple applications for Bounce Back Loans (BBL), which was announced by the chancellor on 27th April 2020 as a measure to support small businesses with a loan of up to £50,000 and 100% government-backed guarantee for lenders. Of the cases recorded by members for COVID-19 related stimulus packages, 57% are in relation to identity fraud. Just over a quarter of these are for impersonation – corporate identity theft. Additionally, 39% are in relation to application fraud, with nearly a half in relation to false income.

The pandemic has provided additional cover for committing fraud, and the stats reflect this, illustrating the need to investigate the real figures behind a business entity, particularly SMEs, who, with fewer board members, exercise much more responsibility.

This analysis comes just before the launch of Graydon Business Risk, an innovative commercial risk, fraud prevention and KYC solution, integrating Graydon’s financial data and fraud case data from Cifas’ National Fraud Database, delivered by TruNarrative’s market-leading single case management software.

More information on this platform will be released shortly. If you are an organisation who would like to take part in testing, please email us: marketing@graydon.co.uk. 

Source: Graydon Press Release