Frauds

Rushcliffe Borough Council has stated it will never tolerate fraud of any kind after a resident was left with a suspended jail sentence for illegally claiming nearly £20,000 of housing benefit.

https://westbridgfordwire.com/ruddington-man-sentenced-for-20000-housing-benefit-fraud/

An HMRC worker who claimed three of her children were disabled and submitted false tax credits for another 15 has been jailed after fraudulently pocketing £238,000.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Tracy Ashbridge had abused her job to make the claims.

Fraudsters impersonating Chelsea officials have been swindling money out of aspiring footballers and their families with bogus promises of trials for the club.

Scammers have targeted young players using social media accounts and websites that purport to be official Chelsea platforms running scouting programmes around the world.

A former company director has been found guilty for his role in a property scheme in which he sought fraudulently to sell a community centre without the knowledge of the owners.

Mohammed Shafiq, 53, of Nottingham was convicted on 8 September 2023 at Nottingham Crown Court of fraud by false representation and sentenced to five-and-a-half years imprisonment.

Pension scams have cost members more than £26.4mn in recent years, data has revealed.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau by the Pensions Management Institute revealed that between 2020 and 2022, there were 1,595 reported pension scams in England and Wales.

https://www.ftadviser.com/pensions/2023/09/11/pension-scams-cost-victims-more-than-26mn/

Mortgage-related fraud has increased by 32.8 per cent over the past year, research from Apex Bridging has revealed.

The research found this rise represented the second-highest increase of all banking and credit industry fraud.

A Shropshire organisation has issued a warning on loan fee fraud.

At a time when research shows that 55 per cent of UK adults are more worried about money than they were last year, Just Credit Union, the region’s not-for-profit savings and loans co-operative, urged people to be alert to loan fee fraud, a type of scam targeting those looking for loans online.

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/business/2023/09/07/shropshire-residents-warned-to-look-out-for-loan-fee-fraud/

Nearly half (49%) of 18 to 24-year-olds say they have been contacted by an impersonation scammer, according to an anti-fraud campaign.

And among those in this age group who were targeted, more than half (52%) said they shared personal information or made a payment as a result of the request, UK Finance’s Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign found.

https://uk.style.yahoo.com/almost-half-young-adults-contacted-230100645.html/

A ROLEX scam has hit Herefordshire, with two elderly women conned into handing over watches worth more than £10,000 each to fraudsters.

A 75-year-old woman was persuaded to purchase a Rolex watch worth £13,000 on Monday (September 4) after being called by a conman claiming to be from the ‘London fraud squad’.

https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/23774370.fraudster-hunt-two-hit-herefordshire-rolex-scam/

Chesterfield man Mathew Hicklin advertised a way of “making money quickly” on social media, requesting dishonest payments in the names of those who responded.

Derby Crown Court heard he was “instrumental” in claiming £33,543 from the Government during the scam along with girlfriend Emma Smith.