Police struggle to stop overseas scammers as fraud cases double to nearly 50 a day

Overseas criminals are committing so many online crimes that police are now struggling to solve barely one in eight fraud instances, figures show.

And while 46 cases a day are reported to Police Scotland, evidence suggests at least double that rate goes unreported.

The stark figures were laid bare in Scottish Police Authority (SPA) papers into tackling scammers, which are reported in this month’s edition of 1919 Magazine.

They state that “month on month increases” mean cases are “now at their highest level” and that “it is recognised that this crime remains hugely under-reported”.

Stark figures show the scale of the problem, which is now the most common crime in the UK.

In the past six years, reported fraud crimes have more than doubled from 8,160 in 2017/18 to 16,879 in 2022/23.

A SPA ‘policing in a digital world’ paper and quarterly performance update set out stark figures showing the rise of the problem, which is now recognised as the most common crime in the UK.

These include:

• Police Scotland has spent 400,000 hours investigating fraud in the past five years;
• Just 2,725 fraud reports were successfully detected last year;
• By March, detection rates had plummeted to 13.9 per cent; and
• 95 per cent of fraud now takes place online.

“This rise, coupled with limited resource locally to investigate fraud, has led to our detection rate falling,” the SPA warned.

A SPA report from a recent meeting states: “It is clear that as more crimes are being increasingly committed online and have a digital footprint, that Police Scotland will be unable to ‘arrest their way out of this problem’.

“Greater effort will need to be applied to ensuring that we do all we can to educate and inform the public on the threats and trends that are occurring in the digital world.”

Another SPA report adds: “Fraud is a significant global issue which is recognised as the most prominent crime type within the UK.

“Within Police Scotland we continue to see month on month increases in reported fraud and, coupled with limited resource locally to investigative fraud, our detection rate is falling.”

Support groups said there had been a “significant surge” in complaints related to cryptocurrency scams and other online fraud.

Major work is underway to tackle online fraud, and Police Scotland have identified it is a key priority for the year ahead.

Officers will be supported in learning more about cybercrime “to keep people safe in public, private and virtual spaces”.

It is understood that among the initiatives being considered are improving search capabilities of the ‘dark web’ and a project to identify young people “on the cusp of cyber-criminal behaviours”.

But the fact impossible-to-detect foreign fraudsters continually harass vulnerable people means educating and informing the public may be the most effective way of cracking down on the problem, says the SPA.

The SPA also noted the “vast array of different vulnerabilities that a fully cyber-enabled society presents to criminals” poses a problem.

Police Scotland has launched a number of localised appeals in recent weeks, including details of a telephone banking scam in Aberdeen and North Lanarkshire.

Detective Inspector Jamie Campbell said: “It’s not always easy to spot a scam, anyone can be fooled – these criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations, and the police.”

Marjorie Gibson, head of operations for national advice service Advice Direct Scotland, said: “It’s a hugely under-reported issue, so these figures are likely to just be the tip of the iceberg.

“Scammers are constantly seeking new opportunities, including through social media, to target Scots and acquire personal information, bank details, or money.

“This includes exploiting households hit by the cost-of-living crisis and rising bills.

“One key thing to remember is that if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”