Coronavirus and fraud in the UK: from the responsibilisation of the civil society to the deresponsibilisation of the state (original) (raw)
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Treasury Committee on the Economic Impact of Coronavirus, 2020
This submission assesses the Government’s measures to: A. Reduce the risk of people being taken advantage of by fraud at this time, in particular with regard to vulnerable groups; B. Ensure that businesses and individuals are claiming appropriately and that fraudulent claims within the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) are detected. The submission finds that A. The response of Government and regulators to general coronavirus-related fraud risks is inadequate; B. The Government’s response to the specific fraud risks triggered by CJRS and SEISS is also inadequate. After discussing the reasons for such inadequacy, the report proposes policy recommendations.
COVID 19 EPIDEMIC: A NEW ARENA OF FINANCIAL FRAUD
Karabagh International Congress of Modern Studies in Social and Human Sciences, 2021
The Covid-19 epidemic is going on as a serious health problem and threat. Indeed, it is also a devastating financial and economic problem. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 epidemic is causing many firms to shut down and go out of business. This triggers unemployment and instability in countries all over the World. The developed countries armed with higher funds are able to better support their citizens and businesses compared to developing and underdeveloped countries. All countries implement different measures to eliminate the several negative effects of Covid-19 epidemic, which has undesired reflections on numerous sectors such as the health, education, tourism, food & beverages and manufacturing industries. This paper argues that, the Covid-19 epidemic in fact has deeper reflections and it may be a new arena of financial fraud. Based on this research, citizens and governments must be extra careful about the new types of financial fraud observed as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic. Also, additional and new measures are needed such as awareness and training on the subject. Especially, emerging financial fraud related to information technologies (IT) require special attention. This article suggests that, firms as well as governments must operate their internal controls and internal auditing mechanisms efficiently in order to prevent the negative consequences and financial fraud arising as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic. Emerging new types of financial fraud in the Covid-19 epidemic era and recommendations to minimize their negative effects are discussed.
Strengthening Integrity and Fraud Awareness in Preventing Fraud During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Asia Pacific Fraud Journal
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted almost all socio-economic and business aspects. Changes in interaction patterns and a decrease in income lead to a higher potential for fraud risk. Management needs to take effective ways to mitigate fraud, especially fraud prevention as the most efficient strategy. This paper aims to explore and manage new challenges in terms of fraud risk related to the Fraud Triangle in non-digital financing companies. Using a quantitative approach, this study examines the effect of integrity and fraud awareness on fraud prevention according to the perception of the fraud detection team. 67 samples were collected and processed through PLS regression. The results show that R2 value is 0.592; integrity t-score is 3.315, p-value is 0.001; Fraud Awareness t-score is 2.119, p-value is 0.0341. Thus, integrity and fraud awareness have a positive and significant effect on fraud prevention in non-digital financing companies. However, there are some limitations that need ...
THE GLOBAL FRAMEWORK FOR FIGHTING FINANCIAL CRIME
Journal of Law and Politics, IBU, 2022
There is growing consensus that the current global framework for fighting financial crime is not as effective as it could be, and that more needs to be done at the international, regional and national levels to help identify and stem the flow of illicit finance-an activity which supports some of the worst problems confronting society today, including terrorism, sexual exploitation, modern slavery, wildlife poaching and drug smuggling. Financial crime is both a contributor to societal ill and a threat to financial stability and financial inclusion, and its mitigation and prevention must be prioritised. While billions have been invested to tackle this type of criminality, greater emphasis needs to be placed on bolstering the efforts of law enforcement with the help of the private sector and ensuring the legal and regulatory framework and financial crime risk management toolkit are enhanced to enable stakeholders to achieve more effective outcomes. This paper sets out three broad areas of focus for both the public and private sector to consider; the systemic stability and societal effects of financial crime, limitations on the effectiveness of the global financial crime risk management framework and a way forward on improving that global framework.
Covid-19 Pandemic and Online Fraud: Malaysian Experience
International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences
The main objective of this study is to examine how the Covid-19 outbreak has affected online fraud in Malaysia. In particular, this study aims to provide a conceptual discussion as well as a comparison analysis of online fraud patterns prior to and during the Covid-19 outbreak. This study uses police recorded online fraud data to provide comparison between pre and during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study period is 2018-2019 and 2020-2021. Results indicate that most online fraud categories increased dramatically during the Covid-19 outbreak. In particular, the number of online frauds associated with e-commerce and online investment, which are the most common online fraud categories in Malaysia, have seen the largest increasing rates between the two periods. The findings of this study provide preliminary evidences on the increasing of online fraud in the country and can motivate researcher to investigate on the factors that affect such frauds.
Cybercrime and shifts in opportunities during COVID-19: a preliminary analysis in the UK
European Societies
The COVID-19 outbreak and the far-reaching lockdown measures are having direct and indirect effects on complex social domains, including opportunities for crime offline and online. This paper presents preliminary analyses about the short-term effect of COVID-19 and lockdown measures on cyberdependent crime and online fraud in the UK. Time series analyses from data about crimes known to police between May 2019 and May 2020 are used to explore the extent to which cybercrime has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. More specifically, we examine whether cybercrime has suffered an increase during the months with the strictest lockdown restrictions, as an effect of the displacement of crime opportunities from physical to online environments. Results indicate that reports of cybercrime have increased during the COVID-19 outbreak, and these were remarkably large during the two months with the strictest lockdown policies and measures. In particular, the number of frauds associated with online shopping and auctions, and the hacking of social media and email, which are the two most common cybercrime categories in the UK, have seen the largest increases in the number of incidents. The increase in cyber-dependent crimes has mainly been experienced by individual victims rather than organisations.
The Journal of Criminal Law, 2007
The Fraud Bill, which received Royal Assent on 8 November 2006, created an offence of fraud in English criminal law which marks a departure of utmost significance from the approach adopted hitherto, whereby a number of related offences cover behaviour deemed to amount to fraud. To mark the passage of the Fraud Act 2006 into law, this article examines the references which were made during its consideration in Parliament to fraud as activity which is serious and which is often erroneously portrayed as ‘victimless' crime. In joining these key criminal policy-making debates with academic study of white-collar crime, it will be suggested that as yet too little attention is being paid to ‘ambiguous' popular perceptions of financial crimes for there to be confidence that the fraud offence will, in the words of the current Solicitor-General, ‘get the law right’.
Empty Streets, Busy Internet: A Time-Series Analysis of Cybercrime and Fraud Trends During COVID-19
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 2021
The unprecedented changes in routine activities brought about by COVID-19 and the associated lockdown measures contributed to a reduction in opportunities for predatory crimes in outdoor physical spaces, while people spent more time connected to the internet, and opportunities for cybercrime and fraud increased. This article applies time-series analysis to historical data on cybercrime and fraud reported to Action Fraud in the United Kingdom to examine whether any potential increases are beyond normal crime variability. Furthermore, the discrepancies between fraud types and individual and organizational victims are analyzed. The results show that while both total cybercrime and total fraud increased beyond predicted levels, the changes in victimization were not homogeneous across fraud types and victims. The implications of these findings on how changes in routine activities during COVID-19 influenced cybercrime and fraud opportunities are discussed in relation to policy, practice, and academic debate.