Public sector hit hardest by fraud

The public sector has been hit the hardest by fraud over the past six months – accounting for almost £253m – according to the latest Interim FraudTrack report.

However, the report released by BDO did show that the total value of reported fraud in the public sector has dropped by 41% when compared to last year’s figure.

Tax fraud continues to account for the greatest amount (59% of all fraud for the period) while procurement fraud has dropped dramatically from £25m last year to £3m in 2012.

For the first time in six years, London has not been the location with the highest amount of reported fraud. Instead, the Midlands had the highest level of reported fraud, costing the region £184m.

Simon Bevan, head of fraud services at BDO LLP, said: ‘This year’s interim figures are not even a quarter of last year’s total, which was more than £2bn between December 2010 and November 2011. That said, it’s important to remember that these only represent fraud which is reported to the police.’