Cyber crime surpassed physical, says British Crime Survey

A survey conducted in the UK revealed that fraud and cyber crime have become the most common crimes in England and Wales.

The British Crime Survey reveals that criminals and crime groups now prefer internet as a medium to commit crime, instead of physical crimes.

A number of cyber crime cases go unreported as is evident from the huge difference between the numbers that came up in the survey and those (406,935 cases) actually registered with Action Fraud in 2014.

Victims are being reimbursed by financial institutions for being defrauded and they are failing to report about the fraud to Action Fraud or the police.

These actions hinder the police and judiciary efforts to investigate, prosecute or prevent further crimes being committed against victims and prioritise it against other crime types.

The law enforcement systems, if reported promptly, will be able prevent the crimes by closing the websites, phone lines and bank accounts that allow criminals to operate.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, part of the City of London Police, help to disrupt 4,000 websites, bank accounts and phone lines every month leading to the prevention of £369m fraud last year.

However, crime investigation is costly and labour intensive as over 50% of the fraud and cyber crime are committed by criminals overseas.

More resources and investments are needed to help to assist law enforcement to help victims of crime and prevent further victimisation.

City of London Police Commissioner Adrian Leppard said: "Every chief constable and police and crime commissioner is beginning to realise the scale of the problem and today’s figures underline that. I am sure that fraud and cyber crime will now feature as a priority in every local policing plan.

"This is new crime in our society and it brings new challenges for policing in prosecuting offenders and protecting victims. Not withstanding the cuts to police budgets we must find ways of responding to the needs of victims of fraud"

"Alongside this policing response the UK needs to begin a prevention revolution to educate the public on how to stop hackers and fraudsters from taking our money.

"It is vital that we work closely with industry to help protect society. A large proportion of cyber attacks can be prevented by changing our behaviour ‘on line’ and taking simple steps to keep computers secure."