The UK is a “scammer haven” where crime is “everyone’s problem but no one’s priority,” MPs warned.
The highly critical report blames the Home Office, which has primary responsibility for cracking down on fraud, for failing to grasp the magnitude of the problem over the past five years, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) MPs said.
Law enforcement agencies, including the police, were “overwhelmed” by the scale and complexity of the crimes, lack of training and resources to deal with them, and morale was weakened due to the time it took to search for suspects, and the weak punishments imposed on convicted, was undermined.
Fraud victims feel “lost in the system,” the report warns, and ways to avoid harm could lead to “undermining public trust in law enforcement.”
The Home Office’s latest estimate of the cost of fraud to individuals is £4.7bn, but MPs noted it was unaware of the potential cost to businesses.
The GAC said that despite the “widespread and detrimental impact” on business, the government still does not realize the magnitude of the problem, “much less it will not reduce its spread or damage.”
Five years after the previous fraud investigation, MPs concluded: “Many of the same problems persist and there is still no sign that the government will deal with the fraud.”
The report says the Home Office is “not doing enough” to pressure banks, tech giants, telcos and retailers to fight fraud and protect consumers. Reliance on voluntary agreements with these groups will “slow down and hinder” UK anti-fraud efforts, the GAC warns.
Efforts to crack down on the international aspects of fraud are hampered by “immature” relationships with criminal justice authorities abroad and “threatened by a lack of domestic capacity in the UK,” the report said.
Dame Meg Hillier, President of PAC, said: “Given the pervasive and destructive impact of fraud on businesses, individuals and society, this is an extremely poor achievement that the government is still unable to fully appreciate, let alone reduce or spread its damage.
“There is simply no indication that the government is fighting fraud or has an adequate strategy to deal with it. Being a victim of a scam can cause irreparable psychological damage. This could mean losing all of your savings, all of your retirement savings, or even your current business and livelihood.
“The system is so poorly resourced and coordinated in relation to the problem it is solving that the victims feel lost in the system and have no hope of recovery. Opportunities to prevent further damage are missed and public confidence in law enforcement is undermined.”
The Home Office said it was “committed to fighting fraud” before releasing its strategy, which will provide a “coordinated response to better protect the public and increase disruption and prosecution of fraudsters.”
“We have also committed £400m over the next three years to strengthen the law enforcement response to fraud and white-collar crime,” the spokesperson said.
Source: I News
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