Fraud Solicitors.

Fraud is a deliberate act to obtain an unauthorised benefit, either for yourself or your business, by using deception, false suggestions or other unethical means, which others believe and rely upon.

Depending on the seriousness of the fraud, the defendant will either be sent to the Magistrates’ Court for pre-trial hearings and trial or the Crown Court.

The Magistrates’ Court deals with less serious crimes such as minor criminal damage or speeding offences. Whereas, the Crown Court deals with serious criminal matters such as murder and manslaughter.

Some of the most common examples of fraud include:

• Mail fraud – any fraudulent activity that involves the use of postage mail. This could mean sending a letter to try and scam money or personal information from someone.
• Driver’s licence or vehicle fraud – people try to steal a driver’s license or use another vehicle’s licence plate number so they can commit acts under a different name.
• Healthcare fraud – an individual, insurance provider, or medical office misuses insurance information for their gain.
• Debit, credit card and bank fraud – when a thief gets access to your debit or credit card number, or bank account, it’s fraudulent activity, plain and simple.
• Stolen tax refund fraud – when someone else receives your refund by stealing your National Insurance number and filing your taxes themselves.
• Voter fraud – this form of fraud is a broad term used to describe illegal tampering with the voting process.
• Internet fraud – internet fraud happens when someone uses the internet as a tool to take advantage of someone else through fraud.
• Elder fraud – this fraud is when older people are targets for more fraudulent activity. It is an umbrella term given to any other form of fraud that targets the elderly.

If you have been accused of any of the above, and you need an experienced fraud solicitor to help form a defence, we can help. Please contact our fraud solicitors on 020 3007 5500.

If you have been a fraud victim, there are several ways to report the fraud, dependent on your case and when the fraud arose.

1. Call the police

If the scammer is in your area and/or you’ve transferred money to the scammer in the past 24 hours, contact the police immediately on 101. If you feel threatened or unsafe call the police on 999.

2. Report to Action Fraud

You should report all types of scams to Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud.

Action Fraud can get the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) to investigate scams. They’ll also give you a crime reference number, which can be helpful if you need to tell your bank you’ve been scammed.

The telephone number for action fraud is 0300 123 2040.

Every fraud case is different, so it’s difficult to provide meaningful price estimates before knowing the details of your matter.

In any fraud case, you will first need an initial consultation with one of our fraud solicitors. During an intitial consultation, you will receive:

• Unlimited time to discuss the details of your case and ask any questions you may have.
• An overview of your legal standpoint and available options.
• An upfront time and fee estimate for your case.

To arrange your initial consultation, please call our criminal solicitors on 020 3007 5500.

A fraud allegation or claim isn’t one of those scenarios where you should represent yourself, simply because they can be extremely complicated with severe consequences.

Instructing a specialist fraud solicitor for your defence will ensure you have:

• The best possible defence
• A professional with knowledge of both the Magistrates’ and Crown Court and the Civil Procedure Rules
• An understanding of your standpoint and available options
• Reduce the damaging impacts on your future

To contact our fraud solicitors, please call us on 020 3007 5500.

We are currently unable to offer legal aid in any capacity as we lack the necessary legal aid certificate. We also don’t offer pro bono work at present.