Fraud cases have soared but action is promised (Image: Getty)
The nation’s minister for fraud has vowed to crack down on criminals following a 19% surge in incidents of the crime.
Fraud was committed on nearly four million occasions in the 12 months to September – an increase of almost a fifth on the previous year, according to the British Crime Survey.
Lord Hanson promised that a new fraud strategy will ne introduced to tackle the “modern-day threats that so many people are becoming victim to”.
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He denounced fraud as a “truly shameful crime,” saying: “Not only do victims suffer huge financial loss, but the breach of their personal security can be harrowing. The latest statistics reveal a sorry state of affairs with a seriously shocking level of fraud having taken place in the past year.
“As dedicated Minister for Fraud, it is my number one mission to root it out and crack down on the callous individuals who enable it.”
A new offence of failure to prevent fraud will come into effect later this year.
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The latest crime survey found a 12% rise in incidents of “headline crime” – which includes including theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud and violence – over the past year. This is thought to have been mainly fuelled by the surge in fraud.
According to the Office for National Statistics: “Bank and credit account fraud increased by 15% to about 2.2million incidents, and consumer and retail fraud increased by 26% to about one million incidents. Around 2.9million fraud incidents involved a loss, and victims were fully reimbursed in 1.9 million of these cases.”