Huge rise in number of young fraudsters

Since the start of the year fraud by 26-35 year olds have carried out fraud worth £62m – an increase of 285 per cent on the same period last year, according to figures from KPMG.

One pair of 26 year olds hijacked mobile phone accounts to call their own premium rate phone lines and one 30 year old convinced more than 400 people to invest sums of up to £2m into vintage wine – money which he used to buy a Lamborghini and a five bedroom house.

Hitesh Patel, UK forensic partner at KPMG, said: “Where once it was the jaded executive who relied on unquestioned seniority and authority to get away with dipping their hands in the till, it seems we are witnessing a changing of the guard.

“Today’s fraudster is younger and just at ease with using technology and data as selling promises.  They rely on the assumption of the innocence of youth, whereas the reality is that many of these fraudsters are nothing more than a wolf in lamb’s clothing.”

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