Detectives spurn fraud because it is not as ‘sexy’ as other crimes, official study suggests, as it reveals the scale of crime is far higher than previously thought
Figures from the City of London Police – which has a national lead on tackling fraud – showed an estimated 1.2 million crimes were not reported by individuals and businesses such as banks in 2013-14, worth more than £12 billion.
It means the real crime level in the year – recorded at 3.7 million in Government figures – was actually closer to five million.
The report published by the London Assembly’s police and crime committee said 70 per cent of frauds are now carried out using the internet.
Criminals require only “limited technical knowledge” to operate hugely lucrative cons, it warned, while some detectives are reluctant to work on frauds because they are not seen as “exciting”.
One expert speaking to researchers said: “It is not the sexy kind of crime that most of them have an interest or a desire to be investigating.”
Some large businesses deliberately fail to report online crimes to the police for commercial reasons, particularly if they feel there is little chance that the perpetrators will be caught.
“In these cases, businesses are effectively absorbing the cost of the crime as a running expense,” the report said.
“Ultimately, it is likely that these costs are passed on to customers through higher prices for goods and services.”
Roger Evans, an assembly member who oversaw the report, said: “We’re glad to see that traditional forms of property crime such as burglary and robbery are falling but a worrying trend is emerging in the rise of online crime.
“Criminals can now target large numbers of people for little or no cost and with only limited technical knowledge.
“E-mail scams, for example, have become a low-risk, high-gain form of theft for criminals.”
He added: “We must create a police force that bears down on criminals who feel that the internet is their safe haven.”
Jeff Gardner, from the Victim Support charity, said: “As a charity that supports thousands of crime victims every year, we know that cybercrime can be terrifying – it can make victims feel like they are facing a powerful and invisible attacker.
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“Many victims feel like there’s nothing that can be done to stop online attackers and that they are alone, but this isn’t the case.
“It’s so important that people take steps to protect themselves online too.”
The report went on: “The scale of under-reporting is significant.
“In 2013-14, Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau recorded 211,000 crimes in England and Wales with a reported loss of £2.2 billion.
“But the City of London Police estimated that a further 1,160,500 crimes, with a loss worth £12.1 billion, were not reported by individuals and businesses.”
It went on: “The police are behind the curve when it comes to tackling online crime.
“The research base for policing the cyber-threat is not as well developed as in other areas of policing and, in some cases, there is a lack of appetite among police forces and officers to tackle offences such as cyber-fraud, often not seen as exciting crimes to investigate.”
It found 65 per cent of people polled in a survey of more than 1,000 adults said they were concerned about online fraud – a higher proportion than those worried about burglary, theft or personal property or car theft.