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Fieldfisher's leading fraud, financial crime and investigations team outlines the options available to victims who have lost cash, cryptocurrency or other assets via technology-enabled scams.
European law firm Fieldfisher has published a new report: Tackling cyber fraud: A brief guide to civil enforcement.
According to an online poll conducted by Fieldfisher in April 2021, only around 7% of respondents were confident they would know what to do in the event of a cyber fraud incident.
Of those who responded, nearly 67% said they had "some idea", while close to 27% said they would have "no idea" how to react.
Cyber fraud covers a multitude of activities, from simple push-payment frauds involving the transfer of cash between accounts under false pretences, to highly sophisticated schemes using cutting-edge technologies, digital currencies and complex multi-jurisdictional networks to steal and hide assets.
While many frauds involve hard currency and traditional bank accounts, which are relatively easy to trace in terms of ownership and jurisdiction, fraudsters are increasingly targeting cryptoassets, which despite being fairly straightforward to track through the blockchain, are harder to pin to people and places.
Knowing who to call and being able to move quickly are key to recovering stolen assets, as the England and Wales civil courts have the power to issue worldwide and proprietary freezing orders and disclosure orders – even if the location of the assets and the identity of the perpetrators is unknown – to halt the dissipation of assets.
Commenting on the recent increase in cyber fraud incidents and Fieldfisher's poll findings, corporate crime partner Tony Lewis said:
"Incidents of all the types of fraud we deal with, but particularly bank and cryptocurrency fraud, have increased noticeably in the past year.
"Victims of fraud often consider the criminal route of redress first which can be an effective way of bringing the perpetrators to justice.
"However, pursuing a civil action against fraudsters may be a faster and more effective way of recovering stolen property, which in most cases is the victim’s primary priority."
For more information on how the England and Wales civil courts can assist with asset tracing and recovery, please see Fieldfisher's new report: Tackling cyber fraud: A brief guide to civil enforcement.
Of those who responded, nearly 67% said they had "some idea", while close to 27% said they would have "no idea" how to react.
Cyber fraud covers a multitude of activities, from simple push-payment frauds involving the transfer of cash between accounts under false pretences, to highly sophisticated schemes using cutting-edge technologies, digital currencies and complex multi-jurisdictional networks to steal and hide assets.
While many frauds involve hard currency and traditional bank accounts, which are relatively easy to trace in terms of ownership and jurisdiction, fraudsters are increasingly targeting cryptoassets, which despite being fairly straightforward to track through the blockchain, are harder to pin to people and places.
Knowing who to call and being able to move quickly are key to recovering stolen assets, as the England and Wales civil courts have the power to issue worldwide and proprietary freezing orders and disclosure orders – even if the location of the assets and the identity of the perpetrators is unknown – to halt the dissipation of assets.
Commenting on the recent increase in cyber fraud incidents and Fieldfisher's poll findings, corporate crime partner Tony Lewis said:
"Incidents of all the types of fraud we deal with, but particularly bank and cryptocurrency fraud, have increased noticeably in the past year.
"Victims of fraud often consider the criminal route of redress first which can be an effective way of bringing the perpetrators to justice.
"However, pursuing a civil action against fraudsters may be a faster and more effective way of recovering stolen property, which in most cases is the victim’s primary priority."
For more information on how the England and Wales civil courts can assist with asset tracing and recovery, please see Fieldfisher's new report: Tackling cyber fraud: A brief guide to civil enforcement.
