Fraud cases soared last year with over £900m worth in the second half of 2005, according to a KPMG report.
According to the market watcher's research, which concentrated on major UK fraud worth over £100,000, saw 222 cases reaching court in 2005, up from 174 cases in 2004.
Many case were of a high value with 88 cases worth £249m in the first six months of 2005, this shot up to 134 cases worth a massive £693m in the second half of the year.
The Government remains the main victim of fraud (£447m), through attempts at tax evasion, VAT and benefits fraud, while fraud against financial institutions, such as card fraud, identity fraud and false cheques, rose up from £37m in 2004 to £360m in 2005.
Jeremy Outen, partner at KPMG Forensic, said: “There has been a worrying boom in fraud in recent months, although the good news is that we know this because the fraudsters are being successfully brought to book.
"With both the number and the average value of frauds increasing, companies and individuals need to be more watchful than ever.”
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