The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB)

PRLog (Press Release) - Aug. 30, 2012 - The IFB leads or co-ordinates the industry response to the identification of criminal fraud networks and works closely with the Police and law enforcement agencies.

In July, the IFB reported that three suspected fraudsters had been arrested by the Metropolitan Police as a result of its involvement in one of the UK’s biggest investigations into identity fraud.

Working alongside the Metropolitan Police’s Amberhill Unit, the IFB has been investigating the insurance records of people suspected of having obtained a genuine driving licence using false or forged documents.

In total the potential scams are worth in excess of £170,000 and alerts have been issued to insurers (http://www.compareinsurers.com/) who may be affected.

The Bureau’s director, Phil Bird, comments: “IFB investigations on just a small sample of suspects have proved that these people are using their false identities to purchase insurance and make fraudulent claims.”

The IFB has also signed a new intelligence sharing agreement with the Government’s Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), who are responsible for a range of licensing, testing and enforcement services including the regulation of garages issuing MOT certificates.

Stephen Dalton, Head of Intelligence at the IFB, said:

“IFB operational experience has identified a number of motivations behind car insurance (http://www.compareinsurers.com/Compare-Car-Insurance.aspx) fraud. A vehicle reaching the end of its economic life is one such trigger and VOSA – as the regulatory body for MOT test centres – will provide a critical source of intelligence for the IFB over the coming months.”

“The IFB uses world-leading counter-fraud software to interrogate 130 million records of insurance every day. The more sources of data we can cross-examine our investigations against, the deeper we can delve into the complex workings of criminal gangs targeting our industry.

IFB’s new partnership with VOSA brings the total number of intelligence sharing agreements to 24, including contracts with police, regulators and public sector law enforcement agencies.

Philip Stokes, Head of Intelligence at VOSA, said:

"VOSA are pleased to be working with the IFB to help combat motor insurance (http://compareinsurers.com/Car-Insurance/Car-Insurance-Pr...) fraud and ensure that MOT garages are not allowing potentially un-roadworthy vehicle’s to be used on the roads. Joint working with other government agencies and organisations such as the IFB help VOSA to work towards its aim of ‘saving lives, safer roads, cutting crime and protecting the environment.’