Financial product fraud rises

14/03/2008

Financial product fraud has increased because of the lack of face-to-face meetings with customers, the fraud prevention service has claimed.

The Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System (Cifas) has revealed that application form fraud for financial services has risen by nearly 25 per cent between 2004 and 2007.

"This research shows very clearly that all organisations need to be vigilant when looking at applications," said chief executive Peter Hurst.

He encouraged organisations to implement a plan to train their front-line staff to identify fraudulent documents, adding: "It should also concentrate on other documents such as utility bills and bank statements."

Cifas also found that an increased amount of inaccurate applications are successful - in 2004 slightly more than ten per cent passed checks, now it is almost one in five.

"Fraud data sharing means that such lies are easy to detect and, far from enhancing an applicant's chances, will be detrimental to their application," he warned.

The government will later this year make it possible for workers in public services to share fraud information with the industry.

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