DCPCU celebrates five years

Sunday marked the fifth anniversary of the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU), representing a significant milestone in the history of the UK’s ongoing fight against organised fraud.

The DCPCU is a specialist unit, sponsored by APACS, the UK payments association, which works with forces across the country to tackle plastic card and cheque fraud. The unit is jointly resourced, with APACS and its member banks providing fraud investigators and administrators working alongside offices from the City of London and Metropolitan Police forces.

The DCPCU was launched on April 29 2002 as a two-year pilot and, following the successful conclusion of this trial, it was established as a permanent unit with an ongoing brief to help stamp out organised card and cheque fraud.

Since its inception, the DCPCU has been responsible for more than £130m in savings from reduced fraud activity and has recovered more than 125,000 counterfeit cards and card numbers. The unit has secured 156 convictions and made almost 400 arrests on fraud related matters.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said: “The DCPCU has been an important initiative to cut fraud over the last five years and I am delighted at the successes they have had.

“When I visited the unit with the Home Secretary earlier this year I was impressed by the professionalism and dedication shown by the employees and the £130million of fraud prevented is a testament to all their hard work and effort.

“The banking industry must also take credit for these successes. Their financial support for this unit provides an excellent example of how a public/private partnership can work together to create a valuable addition to law enforcement when tackling organised financial crime.”

The DCPCU is headed by Detective Chief Inspector John Folan. He said: “Having worked for the City of London and Metropolitan Police forces in a wide variety of criminal investigation roles, including the Fraud Squad, I have seen first-hand the effects that the work of organised criminal gangs can have on individuals, businesses and on the economy as a whole.

“It is clear from the outstanding results that the unit has achieved over the past five years that the DCPCU is a valuable asset in the ongoing fight against fraud.”

During 2007, the banking industry has plans to merge its Fraud Intelligence Bureau with the intelligence section of DCPCU to create a Payments Industry and Police Joint Intelligence Unit. The combined unit will have increased funding and a wider remit to address all types of payment industry fraud.