Fraudsters are devising new ways to exploit technology faster than the law can keep up, a national conference of forensic accountants was told.

Barrister Chris Dickson, executive counsel to the Accountants' Joint Disciplinary Scheme and formerly senior assistant director at the Serious Fraud Office, told the sell-out gathering of financial sleuths that a new general offence of fraud was needed.

The existing statutes, based on deception, had not kept up with developments in technology.

Mr Dickson said: "They have proved inadequate to deal with the cloning of mobile telephones and the workings of the modern banking system. Fraud was essentially an offence of dishonesty but there is no general offence of fraud in English law.

"Rather, there remains the ancient common law offence of conspiracy to defraud, which requires two or more people for it to be committed. There is surely something bizarre about prosecuting a case of serious fraud, not because it was committed but because two people agreed to it."

Lawyers had argued for years about a general offence of fraud which could be committed by an individual.

Academic lawyers disliked the idea of an offence based solely upon dishonesty.

Prosecuting lawyers felt any general offence of fraud based on deception was going to be incapable of dealing with new frauds as the criminal mind thought them up.

Forensic accountants were playing a growing role in criminal fraud cases and needed to be aware of the problems, said Mr. Dickson.

Hastings forensic accountant, Peter Silk, chairman of the institute's litigation support group, said the profession was concerned at the rate new frauds were developing.

He said: "Forensic accountants need tenacity, well-honed detective skills and a passion for the facts. They need to be able to communicate the facts, which can be highly complicated in fraud cases, in a way that is easy to understand."

Searching and seizing was a matter for the police but forensic accountants could assist identifying relevant documents and advising when accounting documents should be seized.