UK Cybercrime & Online Fraud on the Rise

Source: The Cost of Cybercrime, Detica/Cabinet Office

An estimated 3.8m adults in England and Wales were victims of some form of online fraud in the space of a year, according to figures in the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

The survey, which included statistics on Internet crime for the first time and which was conducted between May and August, found an estimated 5.1m incidents of online fraud. In addition, the data showed an estimated 2.5m incidents categorised under the Computer Misuse Act, where the victim’s computer or other internet-enabled device was infected by a virus or where a victim’s email or social media account had been hacked.

The survey, published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics, reflects experience of crime and is separate from police-recorded figures, which show only how many offences were reported. The study found that where a loss was reported, 78 per cent of the victims received some form of financial compensation and in 62 per cent of cases they were reimbursed in full.
Adrian Leppard, commissioner of the City of London police, said: “Today’s crime figures for the first time show that fraud and cyber crime are the most prevalent crimes committed against victims in England and Wales.
“Fraud and cyber crime affect every community in the country and do not discriminate by social status or geographical location.”

As for overall non-internet crime, the survey recorded an estimated 6.5m incidents in the year ended June 2015, down 8 per cent on the previous year, with falls in all theft offences, and the lowest level since 1981.
Crime in the UK has fallen rapidly from a peak in the mid-1990s, mirroring declines in the US and elsewhere in Western Europe. However, some criminologists believe the reduction in traditional offences, such as burglary and vehicle crime, may partly be a result of illegal activity migrating online into a variety of cyber scams. These have not been recorded in official statistics until now.

The ONS said the new data were not simply uncovering new crimes but finding better ways of capturing existing crime that has not been measured well in the past. It added it was not possible to say whether the cyber crime figures represented a rise or fall on previous years. Mike Penning, minister for policing, crime, criminal justice and victims, said: “Crime is falling and it is also changing, and we are committed to tackling fraud and cyber crime. This is not a new threat and the government has been working to get ahead of the game. “

There was a 5 per cent increase in police recorded crime compared with the previous year with 4.3m offences recorded in the year ending June 2015.

The figures also showed an increase in more serious categories of police recorded violence including a 16 per cent rise in violence with injury. Knife crime also rose by 9 per cent while other offences involving knives and sharp instruments rose by 4 per cent.

Sex offences recorded by the police also rose with the latest figures up 41 per cent on the previous year — equivalent to an additional 27,602 offences.
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