23-05-2025
Think tank calls for redesign of fraud policing amid 'stark lack of resources' to tackle scammers
There is a 'fundamental mismatch' between the extent of fraud taking place and the effectiveness of the police response, the boss of the UK's policing think tank has said.
Some 43 per cent of crime committed is fraud, costing England and Wales £6.8billion per year, with one in ten adults being a victim of fraud last year.
With the rise of AI, fraud is increasing in scale and scams are becoming more difficult for those targeted to detect.
Speaking at the launch of the think tank's new report in conjunction with Virgin Media O2, Andy Higgins, interim director of the Police Foundation, said: 'Fraud has become part of the background noise of modern life.
'There are few people who do not receive emails, messages and calls attempting to defraud them of their money.
'There is a stark lack of resources allocated to fraud within policing.'
In fact, there were just 866 economic crime officers, some 0.064 per cent of the police force, dedicated to tackling fraud as of 2021.
Higgins said around 300 officers have been recruited since then, but the same pattern is expected to continue.
The lack of police resources, as well as a low rate of reporting, the Police Foundation's figures show that despite some 4.1million fraud offences taking place in 2021, just 1.3million were reported to the police.
Of these only 3.5 per cent were deemed suitable for any form of police investigation.
As a result, just 4,400 offenders were sentenced for fraud-related crimes in 2021, and just over 1,000 received prison sentences.
And yet fraud offences are having an untold effect on victims, often in ways that are less visible on the surface.
Higgins said: 'Action Fraud takes calls from 300 people each year who they deem at risk of suicide.'
More than 90 per cent of fraud victims said they had experienced some form of mental health problems as a result.
In an effort to address the shortfall in the police response to fraud, the Police Foundation said it wants the police and wider response to fraud to be 'fundamentally redesigned'.
Under the Police Foundation's recommendations, the Government would establish a national crime prevention agency, with local authorities also developing localised fraud prevention strategies to build up collective defences against fraud.
Higgins said: 'We have a criminal justice system, we don't have a prevention system.'
The Foundation is also calling for the City of London Police to be given tasking powers to direct local teams, which themselves would be focused on tackling localised fraud.
Funding for fraud policing should be distributed by a national body, it said, adding that spending on fraud investigation should be increased over the next two spending reviews.
It also argues that private companies should be legally required to share data for fraud investigation.
Murray Mackenzie, director of fraud prevention at Virgin Media O2, said: 'With overall fraud prosecutions falling despite a 33 per cent jump in cases last year, the UK is failing to effectively tackle fraud, and criminals are stealing with no real prospect of ever facing justice.
'The police recognise the deeply-rooted systemic barriers to tackling fraud - nine in 10 agree that despite their best efforts, officers lack the tools and resources needed to fight back.'
