PRESS RELEASE
LAUNCH OF THE IRISH BUREAU FOR THE PREVENTION OF FRAUD
BY THE MINISTER FOR JUSTICE, EQUALITY
& LAW REFORM
MR BRIAN LENIHAN
Gandon South Room
Davenport Hotel at Merrion Sq, Dublin 2
Tuesday 25th September From 12.00 – 2.00pm
The Irish Fraud Bureau (IFB) – Protecting
the Consumer from Fraud
Dublin , 25th September 2007 – The cost of fraud in
the private sector now stands in excess of 300 million.
Lenders are under increasing pressure to intensify their
fight against financial fraud.
Leading search agency and consumer credit information
provider, BusinessPro is collaborating with Irelands
financial institutions to create the most far reaching
initiative ever seen in the Irish market - the Irish
Fraud Bureau.
The Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform
Mr. Brian Lenihan, T.D., is committed to tackling the
menace of fraud and we are delighted to have him launch
the Irish Fraud Bureau. The Minister is determined that
all necessary steps be taken to protect the public from
fraud and he and his Department welcome the engagement
of the industry is helping deliver that protection.
Due to the growing problem of financial fraud in Ireland,
lenders risk damage to their reputation, as well as
significant losses, as a result of fraudulent activity,
often involving identity theft and the Irish Fraud Bureau
aims to help lenders tackle the issue head on.
James Treacy, Managing Director of BusinessPro and
Chairman of the Irish Fraud Bureau comments, "Until
now lenders have had no opportunity to share information
on fraud risk or alert other institutions to the danger
signs. Most fraudulent activity has gone unreported.”
After detailed and thorough research, The Irish Fraud
Bureau has developed a system that will provide lenders
with a unique insight in to the activities of fraudsters:
The system allows members to exchange details of financial
crimes detected by their monitoring processes. These
can include credit card fraud, loan fraud, identity
theft or unpaid insurance claims
Members can also exchange information about applications
which turn out to contain material inaccuracies when
they are investigated at the default stage.
IFB Members can also exchange information about innocent
victims of fraud to protect them from further fraud.
If an address has been misused by a fraudster, the
IFB warning is designed to protect the consumer.
Only IFB members are able to see IFB warnings and they
must be careful to establish the validity of any application
for a product or service made from the address.
An IFB member that receives an IFB warning from the
system when checking an application/proposal/claim or
account/policy/service is not allowed to automatically
refuse to supply the product or service because of the
warning. They are required to make further enquiries
to confirm personal identification details before making
a decision.
This exchange of information will be referred to in
a fair processing notice, or use of personal data clause,
on application/proposal/claim forms and agreements.
Aside from the typical fraudulent use of stolen credit/debit
cards and cheques and the internet today is as readily
accessible to fraudster with a computer and a network
connection as it is to legitimate customers. Individual
fraudsters and organised fraudsters from all over the
world can reach any point on the network without regard
to national or geographic boundaries at any time of
day or night. The easy access provided by the internet
brings some entirely new and unwelcome risks.
Greg Connell, Managing Director of the Irish Fraud
Bureau commented, “The biggest risks are that personal
data will be stolen, corrupted, or misused by an “Internet
Intruder” stealing or tampering with your information;
all the time hiding their unauthorised activity.
At the Irish Fraud Bureau, we understand how the ‘Cyber
Cheats’ work and we can help reduce the damage they
cause.”
BusinessPro are Ireland’s leading Judgment search agency
and the operators of UnionCheck, a consumer credit bureau
for the credit unions. BusinessPro also operate a consumer
credit bureau for the conventional lending market.
The estimated cost of Financial Crime in the private
sector:
- Reported financial crime believed to be 25 Million
- Unreported financial crime believed to be 155 Million
- A further 55 million is detected without incurring
losses
- A further 75 million goes completely undetected
- Believed to be a total of 310 million of financial
crime in the private sector.
Reports of Social Welfare fraud estimate losses at
400 million with a further 200 million detected and
prevented.
After the minister address Greg Connell, Managing Director
of The Irish Fraud Bureau will elaborate on how the
IFB can help prevent consumers falling victim to this
insidious crime and will be joined by an expert panel
of fraud Practitioners for a questions & answers
session.
For further information please contact:
James Treacy
Chairman
Irish Fraud Bureau
23 South Frederick St
Dublin 2
Tel: 01 672 5939
Fax: 673 5948
E-Mail: james@businesspro.ie
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