Five-year plan launched to tackle fraud, economic and cyber crime

It is the first time the national lead force for the three threat areas has produced a five-year plan, which builds on fraud and cybercrime being included in the strategic policing requirement earlier this year.

The new strategy has been developed to guide and support local, regional and national policing to deliver a better service for victims and sets out the actions under three objectives to improve outcomes for victims, proactively pursue offenders and protect people and businesses from threat.

T/Assistant Commissioner Nik Adams who is responsible for the national coordination of economic and cybercrime, welcomed more than 400 operational law enforcement professionals and industry representatives at this week’s Serious and Organised Crime Exchange (SOCEX) conference to share the plan and discuss how the UK tackles fraud and cybercrime.

He said: “Fraud, economic and cyber crime pose a significant threat to the UK and are increasing in volume and complexity

“This is the first time we have produced a national five year strategy for policing, to support the delivery of objectives against the three threat areas of fraud, economic and cyber crime. We are doing so in recognition of the need for these three threat areas to align and work in unison to respond more effectively and efficiently to the threats.”

The three objectives outlined in the plan are:

Improving outcomes for victims – Central to this is the delivery of a new reporting and analysis service for fraud and cyber victims, to replace Action Fraud. The new service will vastly improve the victim reporting journey and outcome for every fraud and cyber crime through better instant advice to victims; industrialised automated alerts going into industry to stop, block and recover funds; and better quality intelligence and investigation packages for action at force level.

Proactively pursuing offenders – Law enforcement has recognised that a shift to proactive, intelligence led investigations and disruptions is necessary to effectively target those enabling and responsible for the high levels of harm. New teams and processes are being built to enable a better system wide proactive approach, we are working with the National Crime Agenxy to build relationships with overseas law enforcement in jurisdictions of risk.

Protecting people and businesses from the threat – A new PROTECT resources and strengthened national coordination has been developed, which will align with the existing Cyber Protect Teams, and deliver consistent nationally agreed messaging to local audiences, providing the UK with the tools and knowledge to protect themselves against the threats.