Confidence tricksters duping lonely hearts online

These days the power of the Internet means that a rising number of people have been using the Internet in order to look at dating sites and more importantly to meet someone, and it can be incredibly easy to chat with ease to people through these sites and feel as thought you have got to know them. Read more

Tags: Social engineering, Human behavior, Online dating service, Online daters, crime, Ethics, Spamming

Jail for crash for cash insurance scammer

Insurance fraud has been soaring over recent years, and one of the scams that some fraudsters have developed is to have accidents on purpose, making them the fault of the other driver, and then claiming tens of thousands of pounds in insurance money. Read more

Tags: car insurance fraud, crash, crime, Mohammed Patel, car insurance claims, driver's insurance company

Personal data breaches – are they getting worse?

Over the past year or two consumer confidence when it comes to the safety of personal data has seriously waned, and this comes as no surprise given the number of serious personal data breaches that have come to light in the last year alone. Everything ranging from banks throwing customer account details into skips and bags outside or sending people’s account details to other customers from HM Revenue and Customs losing the bank details of twenty five million people has come to light over the past year. Read more

Tags: Mr Chapman, year, crime, Technology Internet, banking details, data breaches, little wonder, bank account information

Fraudsters using bank charges to commit crimes

A warning has recently been issued by the Office of Fair Trading after it was discovered that some fraudsters are using the bank charges situation in order to try and obtain personal details from vulnerable and naïve consumers and then commit a crime through the use of these details.

The fraudsters are actually pretending to be officials from the Office of Fair Trading when they call consumers and try and obtain their details.

According to recent reports the fraudsters are calling consumers and stating that they intend to help them to reclaim their bank charges. They are then asking for account and card information stating that this is necessary, and in some cases have managed to retrieve this from the consumer. This information is then used to fraudulently order items, steal, or commit other crimes.

Officials from the Office of Fair Trading have confirmed that this is a scam, and that no official from the agency would ever phone and ask for personal details in this way. Consumers are warned never to give out card or account information to anyone on the phone unless the call was initiated by themselves. Such sensitive information should not be given in response to an email either, and consumers should avoid accessing what looks to be their bank’s website via an email link.

Officials have urged consumers that receive such phone calls to avoid passing on any details, to treat the call with suspicion, and to contact the OFT and report details of the call. This appears to be the latest scam used by fraudsters across the UK due to the OFT’s involvement with the controversy over bank charges, which has erupted over the last year or so.

Tom Smith
9th October 2007

Tags: crime, charges, fraud, consumers, claims, officials, bank

Annual travel cover ‘more popular’

More people are taking out annual travel insurance cover because of changing trends in holiday habits, it is claimed.

According to Halifax Travel Insurance spokesperson David Bruce, people are currently taking more short breaks rather than one long summer holiday, meaning that the flexibility provided by annual cover is becoming more popular.

Cheaper airlines are believed to be part of the reason, enabling frequent and affordable weekend breaks abroad, Mr Bruce said.

“More and more people are taking more than the traditional one summer holiday a year so it makes more sense to have annual cover,” he claimed.

However, Mr Bruce warned that should holidaymakers be required to make a claim in the event of a theft abroad, they must obtain a crime reference number or else “the claim cannot be validated”.

According to the Association of British Insurers, travel insurance policies should provide cover for consumers in the event of medical emergencies, loss or damage to personal possessions, loss or theft of money and expenses incurred due to a delay or cancelled departure.

Tags: crime, travel insurance policies, flexibility, Association of British Insurers, Types of insurance, travel, departure, cover

5 Ways To Reduce Your Car Insurance Premiums

Even with a competitive UK car insurance market bringing down the average cost of car insurance premiums in the UK, by following certain guidelines you can reduce your car insurance premiums even more! Read more

Tags: Insurance, cheaper car insurance, perfect excuse, premium, reduce car insurance, crime, cheap car insurance, neighborhood

Third of Brits move home to improve lifestyle

Around a third of us have moved house in the last five years to seek a better quality of life.

That is according to research by Abbey, which says around 18.8 million of us were prepared to get a new mortgage to ensure we moved away from negative factors such as crime and unruly neighbours.

According to the research, almost 5.3 million people decided to move because crime levels in their previous area were too high.

In addition, 4.5 million people revealed that they moved to get away from irritating or annoying neighbours, while 2.6 million people wanted to live within a better school catchment area.

“When buying a home people have more to consider than just the building itself,” said Nici Audhlam Gardiner from Abbey.

“People spend a lot of time looking not only for what they want in a home, but for what they need in the area they live in, and more often than not, these requirements are for the greater good of the family.

“Crime and family safety is clearly a top priority for most buyers, but moving to get the right school for your children or to avoid unruly neighbours also have an important impact on the selection of a home,” she added.

The survey found that people in Wales are the most likely to move home in search of a better quality of life, with the majority of people moving to the south-west.

Tags: home, crime, life, previous area, school, quality of life, Wales, Brits

Zurich launches anti-fraud team

A new investigation team has been established to deal with fraudulent motor insurance claims.

Zurich has set up the team in order to tackle the crime and the firm feels that having a group of professionals who are dedicated to fighting fraud is the way forward.

It means that there will now be motor fraud specialists who can focus completely on eliminating fraud and do not have to worry about dealing with other claims as well.

“The main objective of this scheme is to ensure we enable the teams to focus solely on the elimination of fraud,” said Scott Clayton, claims fraud and investigations manager at Zurich.

“The Insurance Fraud Bureau findings show that approximately 22,500 staged and induced motor accidents have taken place across the country since 1999 – this figure has increased year-on-year during that period.”

By cracking down on insurance fraud, Zurich believes that it will be able to offer benefits to its law-abiding customers by cutting premiums.

“By making it more difficult for individuals to commit fraud, we hope these new teams will act as a deterrent to would-be criminals and reduce the extra five per cent premium paid charged to honest customers to meet the cost of fraudulent claims,” said Tony Emms from Zurich.

The establishment of the anti-fraud team is good news for people looking to get car insurance, not only because of the potential financial benefits, but also as insurance fraud is often linked to other crime.

Tags: group, Zurich Financial Services, cent premium, investigation, insurance fraud bureau, crime, emms