HIGH value fraud in Scotland has risen 16-fold in a year as criminals exploit new ways of working and living in the pandemic to generate a spike in online scams.
The numbers of alleged fraud cases of over £100,000 being prosecuted through Scottish courts rose dramatically from one case totalling £240,000 in 2020 to 16 totalling £5.9m in 2021.
The dramatic increase is believed to be a combination of rising instances of fraud brought on due to the pandemic, and courts working through a backlog of cases which built up because of initial Covid-19 measures.
Crimes of all fraud in Scotland have risen by two-thirds over the past two years, sparking fresh calls for people to be vigilant.
Criminals have been using the Covid-19 pandemic to target victims online, through impersonation scams, romance fraud and investment scams.
UK Finance has been calling for new legislation to make online platforms responsible for taking down fraudulent content and better protect consumers from these scams.
According to KPMG's latest fraud barometer, most of the high value fraud cases in Scotland were worth between £100,000 and £250,000, while one was worth £1m.
Nearly half of the 16 cases in Scotland concerned commercial businesses, all but one of which were targeted by their own employees.
A Glasgow college admin assistant was in August jailed for 27 months at Glasgow sheriff court for embezzling £500k from a college.
Afsha Rana, 34, purchased IT equipment using City of Glasgow College bank accounts and then sold the items on for personal profit.
She sold some at a Cash Converters pawnbroker in Glasgow between March 2015 and April 2019.
Rana doctored spreadsheets and changed purchase order information to carry out the scheme between March 2015 and April 2019.
She said that she had spent all the money, having given some to friends and a man from London.
Annette Barker, head of KPMG Forensic in the UK, said: “Rising fraud cases in Scotland reflect the changing environment criminals have adapted to in the past 12 months.
"Covid-19 changed many aspects of our working lives and how businesses operate, creating more means, opportunity, and motive for people to commit fraud. While cases have risen in Scotland for all forms of fraud, it is promising to see more cases being detected and brought to court. It’s increasingly important for organisations and the public to be aware of increased threats, particularly online fraud, and implement preventative measures where possible to reduce their risk of falling victim.”
The biggest of the alleged cases involved the fraudulent evasion of more than £1m of tax.
Glasgow shop owner Mohammed Mirza was charged with evasion between June 2009 and April 2014.
Prosecutors state the 56-year-old was knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of value added tax to the figure of £1,086,434.56.
It is claimed that Ameen Mirza knowingly surpressed the total value of sales which he submitted to the taxman on his quarterly VAT returns.
The charge states these returns were in relation to shops operated by Ameen Mirza in Glasgow’s Western Road and Ballater Street.
It was alleged Ameen Mirza falsely submitted the VAT owed by him was less than the true value and did evade the payment to HMRC.
Ameen Mirza faces a separate charge of producing, furnishing, sending and otherwise make use of VAT tax returns submitted to HMRC that were false.
It is claimed by prosecutors that Ameen Mirza, of the city’s Pollokshields area , did this with “intent to deceive.”
Co-accused Muhammad Mirza, also known as Hanif Mirza, 48, is also charged with being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of VAT.
Official figures show a rise of all fraud cases from 797 cases in September 2019 to 1,328 in September this year – up by 67%.
Although cases have remained at roughly the same level year-on year, fraud increased by 26% between 2019-20 and 2020-21, with the pandemic playing a significant role, including behavioural changes such as more online shopping.
Research published within the Recorded Crime in Scotland bulletin estimated that 57% of fraud crimes recorded in 2020-21 were cyber-crimes, compared to 29% in 2019-20.
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