A shocking admission by one of Britain’s top fraud investigators revealed that 80% of cybercrime goes unreported – and even if the police are told, most cases are ignored.
Despite online police campaigns against scams urging victims to fight back by reporting the incident, City of London Police commissioner Adrian Leppard confessed that only one in five complaints are responded to by detectives.
He claimed banks and financial institutions were not willing to report online security breaches, that police did not have enough resources to investigate complaints and fraud committed on an international scale helped cybercriminals.
Leppard was speaking to IT experts about online security when he made his admission.
He told them: “Cybercrime is a massive threat and the amount of money going to fraudsters has probably already exceeded the huge amounts of cash criminals earn from trafficking drugs.
Prosecution is not an option
“The banks are happy to write cybercrime off as a business expense, which means every customer is a victim and hampers police efforts to investigate online crime.”
He told his audience that his figure came from official police sources.
“Cyber-attacks are becoming more sophisticated and often originate from overseas outside of the reach of British police,” he said.
“Police forces are developing the skills to respond but even though the College of Policing teaches cyber skills, the training has only had a 2% take up.
“We need to change the way we look at cybercrime and develop prevention and victim support because in most cases, detecting and prosecuting scammers overseas is not an option.”
Warnings about bogus advisers – Worldwide
Here are the latest rogue financial firm warnings on the International Organisation of Securities Commissions web site:
- Lynx Sp. z o.o – Poland
- Wattenberg Capital Ltd – Mauritius
- Marblestone Partners Ltd operating as TradeRush – Canada
- Los Angeles Investment Club/. Bakersfield Investment Club – Canada
- Chartis Mutual Group – Switzerland
- ch – Switzerland
Warnings about bogus advisers – UK
Here are the latest bogus financial advisers listed on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) web site:
- Black Rock Ltd (clone web site)
- Shields Corporate Partners
Dealing with an unregulated firm
If you buy shares, save money or invest with an unregulated firm, you lose any protection offered by the Financial Ombudsman and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Broadly, you have no independent place to complain if the deal goes wrong and are unlikely to win any compensation.
Checking if a firm is regulated
Go to the Financial Services Register to check if a firm is regulated in the UK.
Reporting a suspected bogus adviser
Find out how to report unauthorised advisers on the FCA web site
