Exclusive police data from Action Fraud, the main reporting body for scams in the UK, and Office for National Statistics (ONS) crime survey data reveals overall levels of fraud have soared by more than 12 per cent in a year but it is also a crime that is also massively under-reported.
While the crime survey shows there were more than 3.6 million cases of fraud in England and Wales in 2018, only 276,129 fraud and computer crime reports were made to Action Fraud in the 12 months to April 2019. That suggests fewer than 10 per cent of offences are being recorded by Action Fraud.
London is the capital of online shopping and auction fraud – with 17 reports per 10,000 people, against a national average of 13. It also has the highest reported rate for ticket fraud (4.5 cases per 10,000 people against an average of 2.2) and investment scams (1.9 per 10,000 people against an average of 1.3).
Warwickshire has the highest reported rate for advance fee fraud, in which victims are asked to pay for goods or services that are never delivered – for example the ‘foreign prince’ who needs a small loan to help unlock untold riches or a fraudster posing as an estate agent who needs a deposit for a non-existent property. The rate of reports there is 15.8 per 10,000 people, against the national average of 11.9.
Dating scams, which typically see people duped into transferring money linked to a fake romance, is most reported in Sussex. The rate of 1.9 reports per 10,000 people is higher than the national average of 1.1.
People in Norfolk were most likely to report computer fixing fraud, with a reporting rate of 10.3 per 10,000 people, compared with the national average of just 5.9.
Of the reports made to Action Fraud in the past two years, nearly half (239,206) fell into four categories. Online shopping and auctions fraud is the biggest reported type of fraud with 86,127 cases. This was followed by advance fee fraud (78,686); computer fixing fraud (38,891); and cheque, plastic card and online bank fraud (35,502).
The analysis also reveals how different types of fraud are more likely to affect older or younger consumers – with 49 the average age for victims filing a report with Action Fraud over the last two years. Rental fraud – where prospective tenants are typically tricked into paying a deposit – was most likely to affect younger people, with 33 the average victim age. The average age of victims of both ticket fraud and online shopping or auction fraud was 37. Older consumers were more likely to be targeted by bogus investment schemes (average victim age 64) or fraud recovery fraud, where victims are tricked by criminals claiming they can help recover lost funds (average victim age 65).
The ONS’s Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimates that there were 3,648,000 cases of fraud in England and Wales in 2018 compared with 3,241,000 in 2017 – an increase of 12.6%.
On the surface, Wales (56 reports per 10,000 people) seems to be off the fraudsters’ radar: there were fewer Action Fraud reports per person in Wales than in all the English regions for the majority of the most common fraud categories. However, the ONS’s Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates that fraud is more prevalent in Wales than in the North East and the North West. We believe this proves fraud is under-reported to a greater degree in Wales than elsewhere.
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