HM Revenue and Customs has invested nearly £300mn into its fraud staff as it looks to ramp up anti-fraud initiatives.
A Freedom of Information request by Basware to HMRC looking at the department’s fraud spending and prevention programme between 2021 and 2024, found it spent £290,780,732 on 4,820 full-time fraud staff over the past year.
It also revealed spending on fraud staff steadily increased each year from £243mn in 2021-22 to £279mn in 2022-23 to £290mn in 2023-24, an increase of 19 per cent.
The number of full-time fraud staff has dipped slightly from 2022-23 when there were 4,877 employed compared to 4,820 in 2023-24.
Jason Kurtz, chief executive of Basware, believed the volume and sophistication of fraud attempts was increasing the pressure on finance departments and fraud staff.
He said: “Some 65 per cent of organisations were victims of either attempted or actual fraud last year, according to the Association for Financial Professionals, and the rise in attacks is likely behind HMRC’s ramped up anti-fraud programme.
“Whether it’s entrusting CFOs in control of assets or people managing banking accounts, all frauds at their heart are based on breaches of trust.”
Kurtz highlighted how fraudulent schemes have become more sophisticated through the use of AI.
“Especially due to AI, fraud is an issue keeping CFOs, businesses and the public up at night. But while it’s undoubtedly increased the sophistication and threat of financial threat, it can also be used to combat it, being used for data analysis and pattern detection.
“Implementing AI-powered fraud prevention can ease the burden on finance departments and help to mitigate threats,” he added.
High investment in fraud among government departments is expected to continue under the new government, according to Basware, with Labour setting out an integrated plan bringing together government, law enforcement, regulators, financial services firms, and technology companies.
Kelly Fordham, director of financial services at Investigo, said: “Rising fraud attempts have rocked the financial services sector, driving a surge in demand for fraud, risk and compliance staff to bolster defences.
“Falling victim to fraud can be crippling for any organisation or any person, so it’s vital that departments such as HMRC recruits the best fraud staff to lead anti-fraud strategies, implement prevention tools and overhaul their technical setup.
“Many organisations have been hit by talent shortages due to not taking on new staff during the pandemic, but the relentless threat of fraud demands a revamp in recruitment strategies and a rebuild of anti-fraud experts.”
alina.khan@ft.com
