As fraudsters come up with new methods to trick, scam and steal their way to the money of hard-working citizens, it requires us all to be increasingly vigilant against the scourge of such criminality.
With Government, police and the people on the same page, we can all play a part in keeping the scammers out of our bank accounts.
The Stop! Think Fraud campaign launched a month ago and I am sure I will not be the only person in Crawley who has noticed the accompanying advertising campaign.
This initiative not only delivers tough new anti-fraud messaging, but importantly raises public awareness on fraud safety advice in partnership with law enforcement, the tech sector, banking, telecoms and third sector organisations.
This new campaign builds on the Home Office’s long-term Fraud Strategy outlined last year, which committed to 52 ambitious actions to cut fraud by 10 per cent by the end of this parliament.
The latest data from the Crime Survey for England & Wales shows that fraud and computer misuse has fallen by 13 per cent in the last year.
Official data shows that the number of fraud and computer misuse incidents in Sussex had fallen from 9,886 incidents to 8,809 incidents in the last year, a drop of 10.9 per cent.
The Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne, is supporting the Stop! Think Fraud campaign and has developed the Safe Space Sussex website which provides information about vigilance against different types of crime including fraud: www.safespacesussex.org.uk
Over the last five years we have seen Government implement a whole range of long-term reforms to tackle fraud.
Government has invested some £100 million in law enforcement, including the launch of the new National Fraud Squad, with 400 investigators now in post.
Further action includes the banning of SIM farms which are used by criminals to send thousands of scam texts, and stopping cold calls for financial products so people cannot be duped by scammers.
Additionally, the Security Minister reiterated to Parliament last month that fraud will be made a priority for police forces through the Strategic Policing Requirement.
The Government has also signed the world’s first Online Fraud Charter. This delivers tough and long-term action against fraud in partnership with 12 leading tech companies including Amazon, Facebook, Google and X (formerly Twitter).
Its commitments seek improvements to blocking fraud at source, making reporting fraud easier for users as well as cutting the time it takes to remove content and adverts found to be fraudulent.
Additionally, the Charter seeks to improve data sharing throughout the sector and with law enforcement, and to increase the transparency of risks on platforms and services.
Information on Stop! Think Fraud is available via: www.gov.uk/stopthinkfraud
Henry Smith MP
