Midlands only part of the big con
The Midlands accounted for just two per cent of the total number of UK scams for the first six months of this year, despite a growth in the number of fraud cases in the UK. The figure totalled £1.06bn nationally.
According to figures from accountancy firm BDO, the first six months of this year marked the first time that fraud costs have reached £1bn during the seven years that the survey has been conducted.
However, while London and Wales experienced significant increases, Midlands’ fraudsters accounted for just £22m of the nation’s cons.
Sat Plaha, forensics partner at BDO in Birmingham, said firms are seeing a rise in revenue dilation fraud as the recession continues. He said: "We are seeing companies where management commit fraud by either setting up ‘companies within companies’ or diverting lucrative contracts away from the company to third party accomplices."
The average value of a single fraud has also increased to almost £6m, an increase from £5m last year.
From these interim results, BDO predicts that the average fraud will top £7m by the end of 2010.
