The survey also found that 22% of firms believe that the problem of commercial fraud is getting worse.

Commenting on the research, which took in responses from around 380 companies, Martin Williams, managing director of Graydon UK, said that fraud remains a persistent threat to business stability.

"Although fraud levels typically rise during economic downturns, measures like the 2006 Fraud Act, which was brought into force to improve conviction rates, and the setting up of the National Fraud Authority, appear to have made little impact", he said.

Delving in to the research shows that the most common type of fraud experienced by UK businesses is that of fraudulent credit applications.

These account for nearly half (45%) of fraudulent incidents cited by survey respondents affected by fraud over the past eighteen months.

Unsurprisingly, Infosecurity notes that internet fraud also poses a significant threat, with 16% of firms reporting that they have been affected, followed by 13% who have been targeted by corporate hijackers.

Citing figures from the Ministry of Justice, Williams points out that successful convictions brought against fraudsters in Magistrates Courts actually fell following the introduction of the Fraud Act in January 2007, from 14 300 in 2007 to 13 200 in 2008.

Williams said that many UK businesses perceive, rightly or wrongly, that the police do not place white-collar crime very high on their agenda and assume instead that companies will just write off the loss as another bad debt.

"The apparent failure of the Fraud Act to increase conviction rates significantly in either Crown or Magistrates' Courts means that the authorities need to do more to tackle fraud and prove to businesses that they take this crime seriously by putting a real deterrent in place", he said.

"The government has already indicated that it is prepared to fight back against the benefit fraud that costs the taxpayer billions every year by using credit reference agencies to monitor citizens requesting benefits. It now needs to show the same level of commitment to address the problem of commercial fraud", he added.

Against this backdrop, Graydon UK is advising a number of steps that businesses can take to protect themselves against the threat of corporate fraud:

• Always obtain a credit report for customers and suppliers that does not simply regurgitate Companies House data but one that tracks and analyses unusual patterns of corporate behaviour in order to identify potential fraud.
• Never set up a client account until their application has been fully processed.
• Always check clients' trading and registered office addresses.
• Be wary of mobile phone numbers and non-business e-mail addresses such as hotmail or yahoo.
• Check whether your customers have a website when establishing their identity.
• Most companies will pay their bills by completing a purchase order from their accounts department - make sure that you obtain a copy of this before sending an invoice
• When dealing with non-incorporated businesses, always request original copies of utility bills quoting the delivery address.
• Double check all delivery addresses, keeping a close eye on what sounds like residential addresses.
• Check whether clients are VAT registered by calling the VAT Office for confirmation.