Firms are warned of insider crime risk

Getting an insider inside a firm can allow an organised gang to launder money, pass people’s personal details on to allow them to commit identity fraud, or sanction fraudulent money transactions.

The research carried out by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service, shows that serious organised criminals are infiltrating legitimate businesses to commit fraud and officials have traced some crimes back to drugs dealers and major tobacco smugglers.

Last night calls were made to employers to make sure they had adequate staff vetting procedures in place to try to prevent criminals getting a foothold in their businesses and committing insider fraud.

Initial research identified that out of 911 employees who had been dismissed for fraud and appeared on the CIFAS Staff Fraud Database about one tenth, 94 people, had the potential to be involved in serious organised crime.

Out of these 94 fraudsters:

Ten were confirmed as involved in serious organised crime.

A further 31 were considered likely to be involved in serious organised crime.

Peter Hurst, CIFAS chief executive, said: “The level of organised criminality among those filed on the CIFAS Staff Fraud Database is higher even than we had expected.

“As such, it is an important wake-up call for employers and shows conclusively how dangerous insider fraud can be. Thorough staff vetting procedures have never been more vital and this research demonstrates the power of data sharing for all employers.”

The research revealed two types of criminality were prominent – those who used their job to enable criminal activity, for example by enabling fraudulent transfers of funds or by passing personal data to crime gangs and those involved in money laundering, allowing criminals to quickly move around a high volume of cash.

The research showed that those involved in money laundering had done so for drug dealers and tobacco smugglers.

CIFAS launched its Staff Fraud Database in 2006 and it currently covers 205 organisations that share information on insider frauds that have been perpetrated against them.

Members are drawn from the UK financial services industry, but also from telecommunications, insurance, recruitment and other business sectors.

Stealing a person’s personal details can allow a fraudster to take accounts over, apply for loans and buy goods in a person’s name without their knowledge.

The latest figures show over four million people in the UK have been victims of identity fraud and the number of victims is rising as people continue to be complacent.

People are still failing to take simple steps to protect their identities such as shredding their bills or verifying emails or calls from organisations before responding and giving personal details as asked.

When online, officials are concerned that far too many still give out their details such as date of birth and their address on social networking sites.

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