HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Credit insurer Allianz Trade is warning of white-collar criminals who are taking advantage of the home-office wave and "social engineering" for their deeds. In particular, the fraud scheme in which payment flows are diverted has increased by 29 percent in the past year, Allianz Trade fraud expert Rüdiger Kirsch said Wednesday in Hamburg. In terms of the amount of losses, it was even a third more than in 2021. He did not give concrete figures on the amount of cases and the amount of losses. Kirsch assumes, however, that the trend will continue this year.

According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the number of recorded cases of white-collar crime rose by a total of 42.6 percent last year to more than 73,000 cases. However, almost 34,000 cases alone stemmed from a collective case concerning an online dating platform in Schleswig-Holstein.

According to BKA data, white-collar crime accounted for 1.3 percent of all crimes reported to the police last year - down from 1.0 percent in 2021. Total damage amounted to a good two billion euros - 14.6 percent less than in 2021.

In social engineering, criminals exploit human characteristics such as helpfulness, trust, fear or respect for authority to manipulate people. For example, they trick the victim into making bank transfers. Since last year, the "fake president" scam has also been in vogue again. In this case, hackers send e-mails with transfer requests to spied-out employees - in the supposed name of the boss. "In 2022, there were 15 percent more cases than in the previous year, and reported damages actually increased by 38 percent," Kirsch said.

Even though attacks from outside were increasing, perpetrators employed by the respective company still caused the most damage and, above all, the greatest damage./klm/DP/stw