Information about financial crime

We have a financial crime policy which sets out the framework for managing crime arising from bribery and corruption, fraud, proliferation financing, money laundering, terrorist financing, corporate facilitation of tax evasion and market abuse. We have a dedicated Financial Crime team, which operates within our Risk Management team, to monitor adherence to this policy.

Detecting and preventing financial crime continues to be a priority for us. Our ‘Speak Up’ service is a confidential hotline and mailbox where our colleagues can report any suspicions of wrong-doing in confidence. Every case is taken seriously. The service is operated by our internal Risk team, providing a genuinely independent way to report concerns, and is overseen by our Speak Up Champion.

The Speak Up service is operated in accordance with the requirements set out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). We regularly promote the service internally to ensure our colleagues are reminded of how to report concerns.

In short, terrorist financing provides funds for terrorist activity. The funds could come from legitimate sources such as personal donations and profits from charitable companies, or the funds could come from criminal sources such as the drug trade, fraud or kidnapping.

Financial transactions associated with terrorist financing tend to be in smaller amounts than they are for money laundering, so they can be harder to track. 

Proliferation financing refers to the act of providing funds or financial services which are used for the manufacture, acquisition, possession, development, export, trans-shipment, brokering, transport, transfer, stockpiling or use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

This is when people disguise large amounts of money, which usually originates from a serious crime (such as drug trafficking or terrorist activity), by dividing it into smaller chunks. These smaller chunks will then pass through other businesses as investments or used in transactions to create the illusion that it originally came from a legitimate source.

There are three main stages to money laundering - placement, layering and integration.

1. Placement - This is when illegal money is introduced into the financial system.

2. Layering - This is the movement stage, where the money is separated from its source and disguised.

3. Integration - Money is returned to the criminal from what looks like a legitimate source.

Data vishing is when an individual pretends to be someone they aren’t, usually from a well-known organisation, and they make phone calls to try and gain personal and financial data. Vishers may have already obtained some of your personal information and will likely use this to try and imply they are calling from a genuine company or for legitimate reasons. 

The caller’s main goal is to obtain and gather as much information about you as they can. Using your data allows them to do a number of things, for example set up fraudulent accounts to obtain a financial benefit. 

Vishing is not restricted to the insurance industry; callers may also impersonate banks and building societies, the police and other trusted companies.

Our colleagues look out for vishing on a day-to-day basis. We have equipped them with an app that allows them to report their suspicions. The data is analysed regularly by our Financial Crime team. This allows us to identify emerging threats and notify appropriate regulators or agencies. We also support customers who may have been targeted.

Phishing is the practice of pretending to be from a reputable company and sending fraudulent emails to get customers to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

They’re often created by a third party who’s altered the details to attempt to trick the recipient into believing that it’s from someone within the company. They then try to get you to click on a link or open an attachment that may contain viruses, or even request sensitive information.

Find out more about phishing.

Romance fraud is where scammers build what looks like a genuine connection, typically online. They may send messages daily, share personal stories and gradually gain someone’s trust. But their goal is financial – not emotional.

Victims are deceived into sending money to fraudsters who engineer false romantic relationships or friendships.

Read Jack’s story which brings the threat of romance fraud to life.

Things to look out for:

• Unexpected requests for money, often for medical bills, travel costs or family emergencies.

• Moving conversations off the dating app to avoid detection.

• Not being willing or able to meet in person, even after weeks or months of talking.

How to protect yourself:

• Be cautious when forming online relationships, especially if things move quickly.

• Never send money to someone you haven’t met face to face.

• Avoid sharing personal or financial details too soon.

• If something doesn’t feel right, talk it over with someone you trust and report it to the dating platform.