On the lookout for plumbing fraud

May 17th, 2012 | Posted by admin in criminal | finance | Fraud - (0 Comments)

Customers should beware of fake plumbers. At least they should ensure that the person entrusted to do work at their property or who recommends a particular scheme is Gas Safety Registered.

David Hoskin wasn’t and he was sentenced to 21 months in prison for falsely telling customers that he was. He also misled people into thinking that they could claim £400 back under a boiler scrappage scheme.

In a case that was brought by Kent County Council Trading Standards, Mr Hoskin let his registration expire in 2009 and was warned that he would not be able to do gas installations until he had re-registered, but he failed to do so and carried on working illegally. He pleaded guilty to four counts under the Fraud Act 2006 and a further 12 counts under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

So, always ensure that anyway undertaking gas work at your home is properly registered and also check out claims they may make about services such as a boiler scrappage scheme.

Link

, ,

Good news on online card fraud

May 10th, 2012 | Posted by admin in criminal | finance | Fraud - (0 Comments)

Do you feel less concerned than perhaps you once did about online card fraud? Perhaps you should as recent figures from Financial Fraud Action UK, show a three percent fall in the number of fraudulent transactions taking place online in 2011 compared to the year before.

The cost to the consumer was £220.9m last year which compared to £328.4m in 2008, though these figures only relate to “card-not-present” transactions. Perhaps the figures show that, though online fraud may have been reduced, fraud overall is still as widespread as ever and evidence of this is the fact that telephone banking and cheque fraud both rose in 2011 by more than a third.

So are fraudsters simply reacting to the additional security that has been put in their way as far as online fraud is concerned and are transferring their activities towards other methods? Are you more confident in putting your personal information out online or are you still as cautious as ever? Please let us know what you think.

Link

,

Civil liberty concerns over council tax checks

May 1st, 2012 | Posted by admin in criminal | Fraud | legal - (0 Comments)

Big Brother Watch, a civil liberties group, has warned that innocent people could be affected by action taken by a company to detect council tax fraud. Is it right?

Northgate Public Services was employed by Tonbridge and Malling and Gravesham councils to conduct checks on those who were claiming the 25% single person’s discount and found almost 950 ineligibly claiming, recovering £300,000 in the process. The Audit Commission says that nationally the figure being defrauded amounts to about £90m, so it is a serious problem.

However, Nick Pickles, from Big Brother Watch said that in many cases children, when they leave home, keep their parent’s address for correspondence, so, in many cases there is an explanation for the “fraud” and says that he is concerned about the prospect of sensitive information going to third parties with very little control over it.

The benefits investigation manager for both councils said that the figures speak for themselves and that “we have a duty to protect the public purse”. The figures being spoken about here are significant amounts; £300,000 recovered in this case and council tax fraud amounting to £90m nationally. Does this overrule any concerns there may be about civil liberties. Shouldn’t local authorities do all they can to recover defrauded money? Let us know what you think.

Link

 

, ,

The growing problem of exaggerated claims

March 19th, 2012 | Posted by admin in accident | finance | legal | road | work - (0 Comments)

It is reported that a growing number of people are exaggerating a home insurance claim. Is it true and what could be the reason for the increase?

Research from Axa has shown a 17% rise in the number exaggerating a claim with about 200,000 consumers adding an average of 607 to their claim. Only 45% of those questioned regard this as dishonest behaviour, seeing insurance as a soft target. Apparently men are twice as likely as women to exaggerate a claim.

The Axa research also showed that 58% of people thought it was not dishonest to fail to mention previous claims, while 56% thought it wasn t dishonest to claim, for example, that a door was locked when actually it wasn t.

Axa says that it is introducing new measures to try and reduce the amount of fraud that occurs but adds that, because of it, honest customers end up paying higher premiums due to insurers passing on the additional costs of the exaggerated claims.

I d be interested to hear your views on this. I would feel very uneasy if I knew someone was lying in order to add hundreds more to a claim, wouldn t you? Please let me know!

http://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insurance-age/news/2151869/household-claim-fraud-averages-gbp607-axa

Taking action to deal with internal fraud

March 13th, 2012 | Posted by admin in finance | legal - (0 Comments)

With news from CICAS that the amount of fraud committed by employees is growing rapidly, up 14.5% in 2011 compared to the year before, what measures can be taken by a company to try and ensure that it will not affect them.

Without justifying the crime, the fact that the country is undergoing such a prolonged period of economic uncertainty, with unemployment rising and with even those in employment struggling for money, the situation may well be having an effect on the figures so, it is quite possible that, if the current climate continues over the next couple of years, the fraud figures will show little sign of turning round.

However, even in a recession there are measures that a company can take to combat the threat. This is easiest for those hoping to recruit rather than checking on existing employees. So, a company that is wanting to take staff on should vet them thoroughly to ensure that they have the necessary qualifications and experience required. Also, references should be checked thoroughly to demonstrate a person s honesty and reliability.

Measures which could be used on existing employees include separating duties as far as possible so that no single person is responsible for a particular function, while the company should make all its staff aware of the repercussions should anyone be proven of having committed a fraud, namely that they will be prosecuted. The company should also encourage staff to report any fraud found, to try and create an anti-fraud culture throughout the firm. Have you witnessed or reported fraud in your time as an employee? Let us know if you have and let s get a discussion going on what other measures firms can take to tackle internal fraud.

Some independent reviews not as they seem

March 7th, 2012 | Posted by admin in finance | legal | quotes - (0 Comments)

Do you rely on travel review websites when choosing a holiday destination or do you prefer to make your own mind up once you are there?

I ask because Tripadvisor, probably the best known such website, can no longer claim that all its hotel and restaurant reviews are real. There have been complaints that some hotel owners were using the site to post positive reviews of their hotels and also negative ones of their competitors, and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has now ruled that the site can no longer claim that all its reviews were honest, or even that they come from real people.

The ASA review followed complaints from two hoteliers about reviews which they said were fake and another from the Kwikchek website which assists companies in managing their online reputations.

Tripadvisor has responded by saying that those using the site usually read a number of reviews rather than just one or two, and that its users make an educated decision based on the opinions of many.

I like Tripadvisor and do use it instinctively when booking a holiday. I think its comments on making an educated decision are sensible and I personally would never book a hotel based on one good review or avoid a hotel due to a bad one. What do you think? Please let us know.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/9052317/Tripadvisor-banned-from-claiming-its-reviews-are-real.html

Satnavs for criminals

February 21st, 2012 | Posted by admin in accident - (0 Comments)

Electronically tagging criminals is one step, quite another is tracking them using global positioning system (GPS) technology, yet that is what the government is said to be actively considering.

The current system does see offenders tagged, though they are only able to check that the person is at home during a curfew. Using GPS would enable officials to know exactly where a person was at any given time.

The government had first looked into the possibility of using GPS in this way about four years ago but had to cancel it due to the high costs involved and technological glitches. However, now is thought the right time to revive the idea and it will form part of a wider review into community sentences.

At the present time there are 21,000 offenders, who are electronically monitored or tagged, with over half of them serving community sentences, about a third on bail awaiting trial and 14% out on early release programmes. However, if the scheme does go ahead, it will surely lead the way for more offenders to be released rather than being sent to already overcrowded jails.

Satellite tracking has already been trialled by Hertfordshire Police, while a London NHS trust has also used it to monitor patients who have been released from psychiatric units.

It’s surely a good idea, though obviously not for violent criminals and perhaps we can all envisage the headlines if someone was released early and went on to commit serious crime. Yours views on this interesting development please!