A NEW group has been formed to fight fraud in Yorkshire.
The new Yorkshire and Humber Fraud Forum is modelled on an initiative from Northumbria Police, which launched the first Fraud Forum in 2003.
The new group has been backed with Government cash and is made up of organisations including regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, West Yorkshire Trading Standards, police forces, banks and building societies and accountancy firms.
They will share information about incidents of fraud in the public and private sectors and the best ways to reduce risks of becoming a victim.
A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggested that more than half of UK companies had been victims of fraud in the past two years - losing on average £1m each.
The crimes were most commonly detected by accident - and half of them were found to have been carried out by employees.
Forum chairman Tony Booth said: "Our message to fraudsters in our region is that businesses here are not a soft touch!
"By sharing best practice we will increase the likelihood of prosecutions and seek a reduction in fraud-oriented crime.
"Our founding members are from a wide cross section of the business community and I would encourage all businesses, whatever their size, to join the forum."
