New weapon against fraud and identity crime

Over 4000 miniature UK keyring lights will soon be handed to every operational officer and police community support officer in Lancashire to help detect fraudulent activity through the use of counterfeit credit and debits cards, bank notes and passports. Currently officers face the time-consuming task of having to take cards, cash and documents back to the police station to check their authenticity.

The project is backed by Morgan Stanley Consumer Banking, with the aim of assisting early detection of forged documents, which cost consumers and financial institutions millions of pounds each year.

Fraud involving credit and debit cards rose by a fifth to £504.8m last year according to industry figures and it is one of the fastest growing crimes in the UK.

Acting deputy chief constable Ms Julia Hodson said: “Lancashire Constabulary and Morgan Stanley are committed to reducing credit card fraud and we are delighted to be working in partnership with them in this way. This initiative will hopefully help reduce many types of fraud in Lancashire and the surrounding areas, whilst providing our officers with a practical tool to help in the fight against crime.”