We are a society in a state of high alert when it comes to fraud. The possibilities posed by our increasingly digital world coupled with the current macro-economic climate mean that the opportunity and motivation to commit fraud are at a new peak. Fraud losses in the UK reportedly equate to £137 billion each year and rising. With that in mind, our new series of short reads, ‘Fraud Fundamentals’, will cover the basics of civil fraud, the tools available in the context of civil litigation and insolvency, the advantages and disadvantages of pleading fraud and our thoughts on current trends and predictions.
What is civil fraud?
Fraud can take many forms and have many faces. Individuals and corporate entities alike can be victims. It can be described as using misrepresentation, deception or dishonesty to obtain an advantage or to disadvantage another. It could involve an obvious wrongdoer, for example where there is a payment fraud, a fraudulent investment scheme, a Ponzi scheme or a phishing scam. One of the most popular types of fraud over the past few years is the authorised push payment or APP fraud, which involves a fraudster duping a victim into transferring money from their bank account to the fraudster’s account in the mistaken belief that they are effecting a legitimate transaction. Impacting both private individuals and companies, the scam can range from small sums of money to millions of pounds.
But circumstances giving rise to fraud-based claims are often…
