National Fraud Authority

The National Fraud Authority is an executive agency of the United Kingdom government^[1] responsible for increasing protection for the UK economy from the harm caused by fraud.^[2] Formerly the National Strategic Fraud Authority,^[3] it was set up in October 2008 in response to the government's Fraud Review in 2006. The current Chief Executive is Dr Bernard Herdan CB.^[1]

The National Fraud Authority (NFA) is the government agency co-ordinating the counter-fraud response in the UK. The NFA works with a wide range of partners with the aim of making fraud more difficult to commit in the UK. The NFA was established following the government's 2006 Fraud Review. It concluded that fraud is a significantly under-reported crime, and while various agencies and organisations were attempting to tackle the issue, greater co-operation was needed to achieve a real impact within the public sector. The scale of the problem pointed to the need to bring together the numerous counter-fraud initiatives that existed, which is when the NFA was formed.

Functions

The NFA works to tackle frauds across the spectrum, but also works on fraud types and fraud issues that are a notable problem. These include identity fraud, mortgage fraud, accommodation addresses, mass marketing fraud and fraud affecting small and medium sized businesses. The NFA also produces the Annual Fraud Indicator, which estimates the cost of fraud. The current estimate puts the cost of fraud to the UK at £30 billion a year, which equates to £621 a year for every adult in England and Wales. Working with the charity, Victim Support, the NFA has also done some significant work with victims, to ensure they receive the support they deserve if they have been a victim of the crime.

Action Fraud

Action Fraud is the UK's national fraud reporting service, run by a private sector company called bss for the National Fraud Authority. Action Fraud is the place to go to get information and advice about fraud, as well as to report fraud. UK citizens can report fraud online (such as forwarding scam emails for inspection) or by telephone. When a fraud is reported to Action Fraud, victims are given a crime reference number and their case is passed on to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), which is run by the City of London's police service. The Action Fraud website also has an A-Z of fraud describing different types of fraud, and offers prevention advice.

Annual Fraud Indicator

The National Fraud Authority publishes the Annual Fraud Indicator every year, which is the UK's comprehensive estimate of how much fraud costs the UK. The second annual fraud indicator was published in January 2011, and estimates that fraud is costing the UK over £38 billion a year. Breaking this down by sector, this latest Annual Fraud Indicator finds that fraud losses to the public sector last year amounted to £21 billion, £12 billion was lost in the private sector, £4 billion by individuals and £1.3 billion in the charity sector.

Fraud in the Public Sector

The National Fraud Authority's 'Fraud in the Public Sector action plan' places a firm emphasis on enhanced measures to prevent fraud in central and local government. This has been broken down into 15 workstreams.

See also

• Attorney General's Office
• Serious Fraud Office
• Serious Organised Crime Agency

References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk/attachments/NFSA%20Chief%20Executive%20Appointed%20-%206%20Feb%202009.pdf
2. ^ http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk/NFSA/National%20Fraud%20Strategic%20Authority%20comes%20into%20being.pdf
3. ^ http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2009-06-18a.419.5

External links

• Official website
• Action Fraud’s website
• Annual Fraud Indicator
• Fraud in the Public Sector