Damian Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Damian Green on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of calls received by Action Fraud result in a police investigation; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning

It is the responsibility of the local Chief Constable, in conjunction with their Police and Crime Commissioner, to determine the resources they devote to tackling fraud and cyber crimes locally. The Government does not hold data on the proportion of calls received by Action Fraud which result in a police investigation.

Action Fraud is the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, and takes reports on behalf of all police forces in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Action Fraud was set up to improve reporting of what has traditionally between an underreported crime type. Official figures support the decision to centralise reporting: in the year ending June 2015, recorded fraud offences more than trebled from 72,000 before the centralisation of reporting to over 230,000.

Action Fraud works in conjunction with the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB): both are operated by the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud. The NFIB analyses Action Fraud crime reports, spotting links between victims in different force areas, and preparing intelligence packages for police forces to consider for enforcement action. As fraudsters and cyber criminals can target multiple victims across different police force areas at the same time, connecting these crimes gives the best chance of suspects being identified.

Not all crimes recorded by Action Fraud and analysed by the NFIB will have viable investigative leads: fraudsters and cyber criminals may be based overseas or use false details to mask their identities. Nevertheless, in 2014/15 the number of crimes sent to police forces was almost 62,000. This was an increase of over 50% on 2013/14. Reports made to Action Fraud also support disruption of the enablers of fraud and cyber crime, including websites and telephone numbers. The NFIB has a programme of work with industry to take this forward. NFIB also issues intelligence assessments of the fraud threat which helps the police determine their response. Neither Action Fraud nor the NFIB carry out investigations: it remains the responsibility of local police forces to decide whether and how to proceed with an investigation of the crimes they are sent by the NFIB.