UK Police Ignore Most Cyber Crime
Action Fraud is the UK's national fraud and internet crime reporting centre.
The idea that crime in the UK is reducing, which of course is a PR piece governments want to promote, has been put into serious question by the non-reporting of Cyber Crime by the Police and by corporates like the Banks, who do not want to acknowledge that they have been hacked and accounts attacked and money stolen.
Authorities and the government should report these Cyber Crimes more precisely and publicly. They should discuss the changes to traditional crime methods and the subsequent significant increases in Cyber Crime with the general public so that awareness of these crimes and how to help to reduce them takes place.
UK Police are only investigating one in 100 cybercrime fraud cases, an investigation has revealed.
The number of online fraud cases has rocketed in recent years - leaving officers reliant on a computer programme to decide if cases 'are worth' following up, it was reported last night.
In the past year there have been 3.2million frauds, but these have resulted in fewer than 9,000 convictions.
Instead of reporting the crimes directly to police, since 2013 victims of online fraud have been told to contact Action Fraud - which is run by the Home Office in association with City of London police - either online or over the telephone
Experts have warned the situation has given fraudsters 'virtual impunity', the investigation by the The Times revealed.
Instead of reporting the crimes directly to police, since 2013 victims of online fraud have been told to contact Action Fraud - which is run by the Home Office in association with City of London police - either online or over the telephone.
- Victims are given a police crime reference number and their cases are passed to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. Action Fraud's website warns those reporting a crime that they will only be contacted again by police and other law enforcement agencies 'in some cases', and that 'the police cannot investigate every report individually'.
- It has been estimated that around 70 per cent of all frauds are carried out online, with many criminals based overseas - making it difficult for police in the UK to pursue a case. According to the Times, more than 230,000 criminal reports were submitted last year, but only around a quarter of these were handed to police and the rest were dismissed.
Alan Higham, a campaigner against pension fraud, said: 'Allowing fraudsters to get away with it only encourages more crime and leaves vulnerable people exposed to having their life savings stolen.’
Stephen Greenhalgh, deputy mayor for policing and crime in London, said: 'Fraud and cyber-enabled fraud are considerably under-reported and under-investigated.'
Figures released earlier this year by City of London Police revealed that around 85 per cent of fraud and cybercrime goes unreported because many crimes are not reported to police by banks. In 2013-14 Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau recorded 211,000 crimes in England and Wales with a reported loss of £2.2 billion.
However, City of London Police estimated that a further 1,160,500 crimes, with a loss worth £12.1billion have gone unreported.And it has been estimated that around 70 per cent of all frauds are carried out online, with many criminals based overseas - making it difficult for police in the UK to pursue a case.
Action Fraud was introduced nationwide two years ago as a central way for financial crime to be reported by members of the public and businesses, amid concerns that conmen operating online and on phones were getting away with billions of pounds. However, the service has been hit with problems, including allegations that victims' welfare was ignored and cases were not being passed on to police. Within months of its launch, private company Broadcasting Support Services (BSS), which operated the service, had to pay up after an IT fault meant almost 2,500 cases were lost in the system.
