Hundreds of thousands of fraud victims stranded as police fail to deal with 'epidemic'

A scathing report from the House of Commons Justice Committee says police are "inadequately" focusing as cases soar, and calls on businesses to face lawsuits if they fail to prevent fraud

Experts estimate that around 4.6 million people are victims of fraud each year (file image) (

Image: shared content unit)

Hundreds of thousands of victims of fraud fail every year as the justice system fails to cope with an 'epidemic' of crime, a scathing report warns today.

MPs say that although fraud accounts for 40% of crime, only 2% of police funding is dedicated to fighting it, while a national reporting center has proven 'unsuitable for its purpose'.

Members of the Commons Justice Committee say the police force is focusing 'insufficiently' on skyrocketing cases.

They also called on companies that don't take steps to prevent users from being scammed to face lawsuits.

There are around 875,000 reported cases each year, although experts believe the real number could be 4.6 million, costing society £4.7 billion a year.

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Despite this, only 7,609 suspects have been charged through September 2021.

The chairman of the committee, Sir Bob Neill, said: 'Fraud currently accounts for 40% of crime and this figure is constantly rising.

Fraud victims are left behind, MPs have warned (

Picture:

The Internet)

"People are losing their life savings and suffering lasting emotional and psychological damage. But the level of concern from law enforcement is below what is necessary."

Action Fraud, the police body that carries out the investigations "has proven to be unsuitable for its purpose" and should be replaced by a new system - but not before 2024, the report says.

The committee's report states: "Fraud prevention work also needs to be significantly improved.

“The government should continue to work with key stakeholders, especially telecom, technology and social media companies, who need to do more to prevent their platforms from facilitating fraud and develop a common approach to prevention online crime.

"A new criminal offense of 'failure to prevent' should be introduced to ensure that businesses are held accountable for criminal activities facilitated by their activity."

Describing the impact that fraud can have on victims, the report states: "Fraud can have a devastating and lasting effect on victims who not only have to deal with fi...