Reported fraud in the UK has broken the £7bn barrier over the last five years, according to figures from accountancy firm BDO’s annual FraudTrack report.

BDO’s team of specialist fraud investigators anticipate annual reported corporate fraud will continue to rise significantly over coming years in areas such as commercial lending and mortgage markets.

Simon Bevan, head of fraud at BDO, says: “In 2010 we had 372 cases totalling £1.4bn in the UK. The highest fraud was £170m and the second highest £161m compared to the previous year that saw two frauds estimated at £200m each and one reaching the £400m mark.

“Every few years there is a different hot topic for organisations to address. In the past this has covered the Y2K bug and money laundering. The current flavour of the month is bribery.

“There has been widespread marketing by law firms on the Bribery and Corruption Act as well as heavy press coverage that has distracted attention away from fraud as a priority. Although risk and compliance departments should address both old and new risks, they face limited resources and giving equal attention to matters is problematic often with new risks taking a lead.”