LONDON—The cost of fraud to Britain rose 1.1 billion pounds, or $1.4 billion, for the first time in five years in 2016, the Mirror reported.
Citing data from KPMG’s Fraud Barometer, the Mirror reported that the uptick was driven in part by a huge surge in cyber crime.
The total value of fraud in Britain rose by 55% last year, despite the number of cases dropping by nearly a third from 310 to 220, KPMG’s Fraud Barometer showed. KPMG cited a rise in “super cases” worth more than 50 million pounds ($62.5 million), while the value of the average fraud case doubled, to 5.2 million pounds ($6.5 million).
The barometer also highlighted a 1,266% jump in cyber fraud, which reached 124 million pounds ($155 million) in 2016. One new case saw cold callers pretending to be members of bank fraud departments and persuaded some 750 victims to reveal security details, the Mirror noted.