It shows the number of fraud acts committed by employees rose from 44 in 2020 to 66 in 2021.

At the management level, the figure rose from 21 to 66 cases.

For KPMG UK, this trend is potentially linked to weaknesses in internal controls driven by the impact of Covid-19. This is because businesses were grappling with new ways of remote working.

KPMG partner and head of UK investigations Roy Waligora said: “Covid-19 has changed so many aspects of our working lives.

“As organisations have had to make changes to adapt to economic uncertainty and hybrid working, many employees may feel a mixture of reluctance and anxiety about being forced to perform their job in a certain way to comply with new measures.

“Economic uncertainty has been a great motivation for some employees to commit fraud.

“Those working from home may even think that they have a lower chance of being caught because they are out of sight of their employer and are willing to risk it.”

In fact, a majority of fraud cases are cyber-enabled. According to figures from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, 80% of reported fraud is cyber enabled.

The Fraud Barometer data revealed that fraud relating to cyberattacks or the trading of stolen data rose significantly.

From one case worth £9.2m in 2020, it surged to five cases worth £22.6m in 2021.

The data also exposed a significant increase in the number of cases heard in UK courts pertaining to account takeover and payment transfer fraud.

The volume of this type of fraud increased by 288%, from eight cases in 2020 to 31 in 2021.

Meanwhile, the value of this type of fraud also grew from £8.3m in 2020 to £46.8m last year.

Waligora added: “Criminals immediately exploited the new ways of working and living that were created because of the pandemic, causing a huge spike in online fraud.

“Sadly, many fraudsters have, and continue to take advantage of the unusual situation we find ourselves in, yet it is promising to see that some of these criminals have been brought to justice.

“While organisations and the public have been implementing more robust safety checks and preventative measures to curb this type of crime, I expect to see more cases of this variety included in the Fraud Barometer in the future.”

In total, the number of alleged fraud cases heard in courts went up by 66% compared to 2020.

KPMG UK’s Fraud Barometer also reveals that 298 alleged fraud cases were heard in UK courts last year. This is up from 180 in 2020.

The opposite trend was also observed in terms of fraud value. The Fraud Barometer figures saw the total value of fraud reaching UK courts in 2021 fall to £444.7m in 2021. In comparison, they reached £724m in 2020.

This number contrasts with figures from Action Fraud.

In fact, there were 875,622 reports made to Action Fraud between 2020 and 2021, with a reported loss value of £2.35bn. According to KPMG UK, there were not any high value fraud cases over £50m last year.

Instead, lower value crimes increased in both value and prevalence. Fraud cases worth between £100,000 and £5m reached a total of 285 cases in 2021 to the value of £178m. It compares with 164 cases in 2020 with a value of £100.3m.

Perpetrators of fraud continued to take advantage of the general public. In 2021, 93 cases of fraud were committed against a member of the public. They reached the total value of just under £116m.

It compares with 39 in 2020 totaling £33.3m.

Waligora said: “With the introduction of the BEIS White Paper and heightened focus on fraud, I would hope that it has helped tackle the prevalence of high-value fraud.

“With increased controls, it is only logical that less of these crimes slip through the net.

“In 2020, there was a £200m film piracy case which accounted for 28% of the fraud value reported, hence why there has been such a significant fall in fraud values.

“With new regulation and heightened awareness of fraud, I hope cases as catastrophic as that one will no longer be seen in the future.

“Another reason for the fall in value could be that more complex cases are still being delayed as a result of the pandemic or are still currently being heard in court, and we will closely monitor for this in next year’s data.”