Financial services fraud up 11% in 2010

by Aaron Strutt

Apr 15 2011

Fraud attempts against financial services providers increased by 11% in 2010, according to a report by Experian.

Last year, 20 in every 10,000 applications for credit cards and other financial products were found to be fraudulent, up from 18 in 2009.

The report says that there was a significant rise in the attempted first-party mortgage and automotive fraud in 2010, and typically it is young professionals who try their luck. Mortgage fraud attempts increased by 14 per cent to 32 in every 10,000 applications in 2010, with first-party fraudsters responsible for 97 per cent of cases.

First-party fraud, where an individual applies for credit cards and other financial services that they are not entitled, accounts for more than half of frauds attempted against financial providers.

April 15, 2011