Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Police campaign has its sight set on fraudsters
Police Scotland is running a major campaign to help the people of Monklands to protect themselves from fraud – one of the most commonly experienced crimes in the country.
Cases of criminals exploiting vulnerable and unsuspecting people and persuading them to part with money or personal information are continuing to rise.
During the six- week campaign, in partnership with Take Five to Stop Fraud, police officers will also warn that criminals are becoming more sophisticated and convincing in their methods, and taking advantage of advances in technology.
Latest Scottish Government figures show that in 2019-20, fraud increased by 23 per cent and since 2010-11 has gone up by 33 per cent.
In the past year (April 2019-to-march 2020) there were 11,939 crimes of fraud recorded in Scotland, including many committed online, as criminals use the internet more and more to target victims; this was an increase of 2264 crimes the previous year.
Throughout the campaign members of the public and businesses in Airdrie and Coatbridge will be encouraged to follow straightforward and impartial advice – Stop, Challenge and Protect
– aimed at reducing the chances of becoming a victim of financial fraud. This includes online fraud and email deception along with phone-based and social media scams.
Essential information will be advertised on social media and digital screens as well as on Spotify.
Police Scotland’s Deputy Chief Constable, Malcolm Graham, said: “Fraud, in any form, is a despicable and cowardly crime with, often anonymous, criminals targeting the most vulnerable people in our communities.
“We know these faceless crooks will take any opportunity to exploit any situation to their own nefarious advantage. We are well aware that fraud continues to rise and want to take the opportunity to warn the public and businesses to take a few steps to protect themselves and remain vigilant.
“Our advice is clear and the public should be aware that a telephone call, email or text may not be from the person or organisation it appears to come from.
“Never click on a link from an unsolicited email or text, and remember that banks, police or other legitimate organisations will never ask you for personal banking information or ask you to move funds to a different account.
“With people spending more and more of their time in the cyber and digital space, the growth of the internet has seen otherwise traditional crimes, such as fraud, being carried out online.
Our ambitious Cyber Strategy, published in September, sets a clear direction for how we will tackle the threat, risk and harm from digitallyenabled crimes, including fraud.”
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Humza Yousaf added: “While levels of crime including those involving robbery, housebreaking and theft have fallen over the last decade, reported cases of fraud have risen by a third over the same period, at a time when we have all increased our use of online and mobile technologies.
“During 2020 we have seen unscrupulous individuals using the lockdown and ongoing restrictions as an opportunity to target some of our most vulnerable citizens and exploit businesses. Such criminal behaviour is absolutely abhorrent and the Scottish Government is working with police and other partners to pursue those who cause harm and misery to our communities.
“During the festive season I welcome Police Scotland’s timely campaign urging people to ‘Stop, Challenge and Protect’ in order to help households, businesses and communities to keep themselves safe and secure this Christmas and into 2021.
“In addition anyone can sign up to receive trusted alerts and advice from Neighbourhood Watch Scotland on a range of safety and security issues targeted to their local area.”
Dee Featherstone, 32 Peterborough
“My family are a couple of hours’ drive away and they’re at high risk. I’d usually see them every couple of months, but this year I only saw them once, for a couple of days during the summer. I’d have the vaccine to help get a sense of normality back. Once it’s allowed, I’d love to visit them and give them a hug.”