New White Paper calls for step-change in fraud response

Published on Thursday (July 18) by Crest Insights, the think-tank for the criminal justice system, the White Paper highlights the need for a “renewed focus” on online fraud within government strategy.

It says the new roles would provide “oversight and leadership to an area of crime which is currently under-prioritised and overlooked”.

Report author Sophie Davis said currently the national response to fraud “does not match the scale of the threat”.

The report, ‘Turning the tide: A plan to tackle online fraud’, was conducted in partnership with the Police Foundation and Birkbeck, University of London (Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research), and with funding from the Dawes Trust,

Based on interviews with more than 31 experts from across the fraud policy and practice landscape, as well as 15 police officers across three force areas, the report gathers the views of those on the frontline of tackling online fraud and presents the barriers in the current system.

One expert described the most recent government action plans against online fraud laid out in the Fraud Strategy as “massively disappointing” and “doomed to fail”. In another interview, a police officer explained that fraud is frequently deprioritised because it doesn’t “bang, bleed, or shout”, leaving law enforcement without the incentives to investigate the crime.

The authors also call for the introduction of an annual levy on online platforms to tackle fraud, which would then be ring-fenced to go towards efforts to prevent and tackle fraud.

The Fraud Commissioner would provide advice to the Government on how the levy would work in practice, taking learnings from similar levies elsewhere.

The report follows previous Crest Insights research which found the emotional impact of online fraud for victims is worse than the financial hit.

According to report authors, four goals need to be achieved to deliver a step-change in the UK’s response to fraud:

• The response to fraud is ambitious and strategic, on a par with the scale of the threat;
• All actors are incentivised and able to dismantle silos and collaboratively achieve shared goals;
• Law enforcement has the resources, training, and technology to effectively pursue fraud, with a proactive approach at all levels; and
• There is a hostile operating environment for fraudsters with enhanced preventative measures

Ms Davis said: “Our research shows that the national response to fraud does not match the scale of the threat.

“Despite making up over 40 per cent of all crime in the UK, fraud has been under-prioritised for over a decade, allowing the UK to become ‘a haven for fraudsters’.

“Not only have current government measures created a responsibility vacuum, policing is under-resourced and lacking the skills required to deter and detect online fraudsters effectively.

“Our previous research speaking to victims highlights the enormous toll of online fraud, with victims experiencing feelings of shame, self-blame, and isolation.

“Despite a renewed government focus on fraud over the last two years – in particular, the publication of the first fraud strategy for a decade in 2023 – the approach to this crime still lacks the ambition needed to deal with what has been called ‘an epidemic’.”

She added: The new Labour Government has pledged to introduce a new expanded fraud strategy to tackle the full range of threats.

“This should include ambitious, tangible and long-term targets, alongside adequate resources and structural reform.

“If the Government is serious about cutting crime, they cannot afford to ignore fraud.”