One in ten people now fall victim to frauds and online scams
ONE in ten adults has fallen victim to fraud or cyber-offences, according to official figures that reveal overall crime has doubled.
The statistics showed there were around 6.3million ‘traditional’ crimes, but when 5.8million cases of fraud and computer misuse were counted, the total came to 12.1million offences.
It is the first time the official figures have calculated the silent crimewave of credit card and banking fraud, mail, phone and online scams, and computer offences such as identity theft and hacking.
Such crimes are now the most prevalent, with a person 20 times more likely to be swindled than robbed.
The Crime Survey had previously been criticised for omitting millions of cases of fraud, skewing the scale of offending, so the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which conducts face-to-face interviews, added questions about fraud and online scams.
While the inclusion of these crimes has led to a doubling in overall levels, the survey revealed yesterday that other offences were down 6 per cent on the previous year and at a record low of 6.3million.
The survey differs from official police figures and aims to represent the country’s true experience of crime because many offences go unreported by victims.
This is highlighted by the fact that only 620,000 fraud offences were reported to the
‘One of the biggest threats facing Scots’
police last year, a rise of 5 per cent, but only a fraction of the crimes uncovered in the ONS survey.
The figures cover England and Wales but concern is also growing over online fraud in Scotland. Last year the Scottish Government launched a document aimed at helping businesses, organisations and individuals stay safe online.
A survey of 1,000 adults in Scotland found one in ten had experienced unauthorised use of their personal data.
Police Scotland Chief Constable Phil Gormley has identified cyber-crime as one of the biggest threats facing Scots as ‘the nature of crime in our society’ changes.
George Scott, head of cyber security for KPMG in Scotland, said: ‘Cyber security has become a significant risk factor for businesses, with a number of high-profile attacks in the past year.’
John Flatley, head of crime statistics at the ONS, pointed out that the most striking development was that all social classes and regions of the country were equally affected by fraud and cyber-crime.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney has said: ‘As much as 80 per cent of cyber-crime can be prevented by getting the cyber basics right, such as updating software, good passwords and regular back-ups.’