Latest ONS reports on crime in England and Wales disclose that Action Fraud reported a 4% rise in fraud offences, with UK Finance reporting a 23% rise. With cases on the rise, why are so many not reporting it? There are several reasons, but research shows that the policing response – or rather its failures – is the main culprit.
The Telegraph recently published an article explaining how it is the deprioritising of fraud reports that has led to cybercrime transforming into the large-scale threat that it is today.
Cybercrime and online fraud is not an inevitability that we should learn to live with in our digital society. Victims should be supported to report crimes on the basis that the police can and will investigate incidents to the same extent they would any other criminal theft.
Action Fraud and The NCSC’s Suspicious Email Reporting Service are both excellent centres offering alerts, advice and most importantly the ability to report. Action Fraud reminds us that ‘fraud is a crime’ and while some say ‘it’s not as serious as other crimes’ that ‘this is not true’ and ‘Action Fraud should be your first point of contact if you have been a victim of fraud.
For more information, visit https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/why-contact-action-fraud
Keeping up with new, highly skilled cyber criminals will be no easy feat, but it is imperative that policing makes the moves to do so, in order to make reporting online fraud the norm and stay on top of its ever-increasing cases.
