Financial Crime

To make our fraud prevention measures as effective as possible we get data from a wide range of industry-wide sources. These include other businesses, police forces and other law enforcement bodies. Once we have this, we use state-of-the-art technology to cross-reference it with our internal databases and other external data sources, and by liaising with insurers to check information that might look suspicious.

Why do we go to all this trouble?

Fraud is something that might have a negative effect on our customers, so we’re committed to fighting against it. We are always working hard to improve our security measures, protect our customers and their personal data. It’s as simple as that.

Application checks

Should you deliberately withhold accurate information about yourself and your circumstances you could invalidate your insurance. It is essential that you honestly disclose all relevant information. Remember we do make checks on the information disclosed and can identify fraudulent behaviour.

Inevitably there will be some people who fall victim to the professional fraudsters. Below are some examples:

Ghost Brokers

These are insurance brokers who sell fake policies to motorists. These policies may appear to be genuine. In some cases, they are actual policies which have been purchased from legitimate insurers and then altered before being passed on.  The unsuspecting customer would not know that they were buying a policy that’s not real.

Other instances of ghost broking can include the fraudsters buying a policy and then cancelling it almost immediately. This would enable to them to claim the refund as well as keeping hold of the customer’s money.

Crash for Cash 

You may be aware of this type of fraud, as it has been covered in the news. The three key ways in which fraudsters do this are:

• The staged accident – involving two vehicles, both driven by criminals, and crashed away from witnesses
• The induced accident – when criminals brake suddenly or deliberately create a crash involving unsuspecting motorists
• The ghost accident – when there’s actually no accident at all, but instead a fake insurance claim is submitted

Insurance fraud may not be something you’ve thought about before and we know that it can seem complicated and confusing.

In simple terms insurance fraud is when you withhold information from your insurer. This could be anything from your occupation to your correct age. Whether this information is withheld accidentally or on purpose it could invalidate your policy which would mean if you needed to make a claim your insurance company might not pay. It could also ultimately result in prosecution and/or being fined. Motor insurance fraud is an increasing area of concern. 

In addition to our fraud prevention measures there are some things you can do to help protect yourself as well. We’ve listed some of these below to help you:

Keep your passwords safe

• Don’t share them with anyone and don’t write them down
• Use passwords which can’t be easily guessed, such as your date of birth or your children’s names
• Create passwords which include both letters and numbers in a mix of upper and lower case
• Use a different password for each online account you have

Always log out of any websites which hold information about you, including payment details

• It’s important that you log out of any online accounts you have when you finish the session. This is especially important if you are using someone else’s computer, or a public one

Keep your personal information private

• Keep your privacy settings up to date on social network sites such as Facebook to make sure no one unscrupulous can see your personal information – this is a great source of information for fraudsters!
• Do not give out any personal details to anyone, even if the request appears to be from a legitimate source, such as your bank or insurer

Keep your bank and credit cards safe

• It’s important to sign your bank and credit cards as soon as you receive them and keep them in a safe place
• When using your card, make sure those around you can’t see you input your PIN into the card machine
• Report a lost or stolen card immediately

Keep your kit safe

The points below are relevant to all devices you use to access the internet, including computers, laptops, mobiles and tablets

• Install anti-virus software and keep it up to date. If your device should get a virus it can steal your personal information, or even take over your computer and use it to attack others.
• Set your anti-virus software to scan files as and when you access them and to also download any available updates when you go online
• Keep your software up to date
• Register for your software support package

Uninstall any unwanted software

Sometimes companies may need to access your computer remotely (for example, IT companies for repair purposes). Unfortunately, fraudsters can also use this to gain access to your devices. It is always best to remove any software which you don’t need.

Take care when buying items online

It’s always best to only buy goods online from reputable companies. However, there are still a number of things to look out for to help spot a fraudulent website:

• Does the site look genuine? Easy things to spot are; spelling mistakes, strange payment methods, pages which look odd. It’s also worth checking out any reviews
• Always check the small print, remember if a deal looks too good to be true…it probably is!

More information

If you would like more information about how to help protect yourself against financial and cyber crime we have included links to some external websites for you to visit:

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/individual-protection/

https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/about/take-five/

https://www.getsafeonline.org/

https://www.met.police.uk/littlemedia/