12 in every 10,000 insurance applications and claims were found to be fraudulent during Q1 2011, according to the latest Experian Fraud Index.
This represents an increase of almost 4% from Q4 2010 and 43% from Q1 2010.
Fraudulent attempts to open UK current accounts increased sharply in the first quarter of 2011,
35 in every 10,000 current account applications were detected as being fraudulent . This was 58% higher than in Q4 2010, and saw current account application fraud overtake mortgage and automotive finance fraud rates to become the most targeted financial product for the first time.
Experian director of fraud & identity solutions Nick Mothershaw said: “As increasingly sophisticated identity verification and fraud prevention technologies have made life more difficult for fraudsters, some have turned their attentions to current accounts, believing them to be a softer target to then launch attacks on more lucrative credit card and mortgage products.
“With signs that account takeover fraud is also increasing, fraudsters are becoming even more calculating. It is vital that financial service providers accurately validate and verify the identities of the people they interact with and are using every technique at their disposal to restrict the significant damage fraud does to the bottom line.”
34 in every 10,000 mortgage applications were also uncovered as fraudulent during Q1, the second busiest period for mortgage fraud ever recorded by the fraud index.
The busiest period was in Q2 2010, when the rate reached 35 in every 10,000 applications.
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