The firm’s bi-annual Fraud Barometer found that while the volume of alleged fraud for the year dropped by nearly a third from 310 cases to 220, the value was up over 55% compared with the 2015 total of £732m.

KPMG says 2016 saw £1,137m of alleged fraud hitting UK courts, meaning the average value of fraud has more than doubled to £5.2m from £2.4m. Fraud against businesses was up seven-fold over the year with internal fraud committed by employees and management the most common type of fraud to hit businesses.

Case of cyber-enabled fraud rose steeply, up 1266% on 2015 figures. They included a £113m million cyber fraud, the largest recorded in UK courts since 2008, based on a gang of professional criminals cold-calling bank customers using inside information from corrupt bank staff.

Regional analysis shows London and South East suffered over £800m worth of fraud in 2016, nearly three quarters of all of the UK fraud. Commercial businesses were the hardest hit, with reported losses of £352m, an increase of over 1800%, while KPMG says there was a 79% increase in the losses due to fraud carried out by professional criminals.

Analysis of the total figures shows that over £900m of fraud derived from just seven super cases. KPMG says the surge in super cases, up from £250m the previous year, may be a reflection of fraud becoming a more lucrative and practical proposition for those with the right skills and technology, or those in senior commercial roles.

The firm argues that increased pressures both to deliver on targets in a highly competitive and uncertain environment and to preserve personal finances have made people more willing to disregard their moral compass and see fraud as a shortcut to success. Combined with this are new opportunities for fraud that have largely been created by new technology.

Hitesh Patel, UK forensic partner at KPMG, said: ‘The figures for 2016 tell us two things. Firstly, that we can expect more of these super frauds as challenging economic circumstances place pressures on businesses and individuals and as technology becomes more sophisticated. ‘Secondly, that this is going to put even more strain on law enforcement agencies who don’t have the resources to investigate every report of fraud that they receive: getting the large, often cross-border and complex frauds to court is extremely time consuming and resource intensive.

‘This places much more emphasis on businesses and consumers to protect themselves from fraudsters who will take advantage given the opportunity.’

Details of KPMG’s Fraud Barometer are here.