‘Shockingly low’ number of fraud cases solved – Which?

A “shockingly low” number of fraud reports are being successfully cleared up, Which? claims.

The consumer group said its analysis of available figures found that more than 96% of crimes reported to UK body Action Fraud are closed without a successful outcome.

Which? said its findings suggest a “losing battle” is being fought against this crime.

Those representing police and the finance industry said a strong focus is put on preventing fraud happening in the first place as well as solving cases.

Some crimes reported to Action Fraud, which acts as a central point of contact for victims of scams, may end up being passed on to a local police force for investigation, typically one where the suspect lives.

Which? also submitted freedom of information (FOI) requests to 43 police forces across the UK, asking them to provide data on fraud investigations. Of those that responded, 29 out of 30 had seen their performance slip between 2014 and 2016, the consumer group said.

Which? also said it had found a “lack of transparency” around the available statistics for fraud.

It claimed the current process for investigating fraud can be slow, which could in part be due to the need to request data from banks.

Ceri Stanaway, Which? Money editor, said: “The shockingly low success rate for fraud investigations is leaving many victims deprived of justice and suggests the authorities are fighting a losing battle against this type of crime.

“Unfortunately, investigations are often conducted at a slow pace – with communication between banks and the authorities often dragging on for weeks before police can launch a full inquiry.

“We’d urge consumers to be extremely cautious when dealing with unsolicited contact – as fraud is on the rise.”

Action Fraud is run by the City of London Police and works alongside the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.

A statement from City of London Police said: “Fraud is the fastest-growing crime in the UK and this means that it is not always possible to enforce our way out of the problem; due to the high volume of cases it is not possible for every report of fraud to result in a judicial outcome.

“For this reason, it is important that law enforcement not only focuses on pursuing suspects, but also works to prevent and protect people from fraud.

“The City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau disrupts email addresses, bank accounts and phone lines associated in fraudulent activity. In 2016-17, 170,856 disruption requests were made.”

The statement said Action Fraud publishes its statistics on its website and it is always working with local forces to improve transparency.

The statement continued: “Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau receive and assess reports of fraud, which are then sent to law enforcement for investigation.

“This process can take some time as we may sometimes need to submit a data protection request to a bank, the banks’ time frames to respond can vary and sometimes take weeks to complete.

“Some reports may also be linked to each other and therefore it takes a long time to assess the intelligence. Action Fraud also receives a high volume of reports.”

Action Fraud is currently preparing to introduce an upgraded computer system to improve the service for victims.

A spokesman for trade association UK Finance said: “The finance industry invests millions of pounds in advanced security systems to protect customers and last year prevented £2 in every £3 of attempted unauthorised fraud.

“Intelligence is continuously shared across the industry and with law enforcement to crack down on fraud and the criminals responsible.

“The industry also fully sponsors a police unit dedicated to tackling banking and card fraud, which successfully prevented £25 million of losses and disrupted seven organised criminal gangs in the first half of this year alone.

“Customers should always follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign, and be wary of any requests out of the blue asking for personal or financial details or to transfer money.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “We remain committed to improving the law enforcement response to fraud.

“Through the Joint Fraud Taskforce, we are working with the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud, to educate the police, share best practice and establish a consistent and transparent approach to fraud across all forces.”

He added that a thematic inspection of fraud this year “will provide the catalyst for local forces to increase their awareness of fraud”.