Scammers will thrive unless response is overhauled, warns Police and Crime Commissioner
Scammers will continue to thrive across the West Midlands unless there is an immediate overhaul in the national response to dealing with fraud, a police chief has said.
David Jamieson said victims were being let down by a centralised system which left regional police forces without the information they needed to clamp down on fraudsters.
It came as figures released this week showed that fraud cases had skyrocketed during the pandemic, with victims in the West Midlands fleeced out of more than £70 million.
The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner has previously branded the national response to fraud "lamentable".
He said the rise in cases was having a "devastating effect" on vulnerable victims and warned that more than £1 billion may have been lost to fraud through schemes such as the Government’s Bounce Back Loans scheme.
Mr Jamieson, who is retiring next week, said: "Fraud is a crime that crosses local and international borders.
"I have been pushing the City of London Police and the Home Office to better co-ordinate the response to cross border crimes like fraud that are costing us all billions of pounds.
"We have seen some improvement on this, but there is a huge amount to do to ensure victims get the service they deserve.
"Fraud cases have dramatically increased across the country with devastating effects on both individuals and businesses.
"The Covid-19 pandemic has created greater opportunity for fraudsters due to potential victims spending considerably more time online.
"At a local level we are working to help people to protect themselves from fraud and taking action, but we need a much better national response if are to get truly tough on the fraudsters."
In the West Midlands Police area nearly 19,000 fraud incidents were recorded in the year to March 2021, although experts believe the true figure is likely to be far higher due to many cases not being reported.
Jay Singh-Sohal, the Conservative candidate for PCC at next week's election, said the rate of increase in fraud cases in the region was a "deep concern".
He has pledged to tackle the rise by working closely with partners such as neighbouring PCCs and law enforcement agencies, and through the national strategic policing requirement.
"I will ensure West Midlands Police is best equipped and more agile in gathering the intelligence needed to build up a picture of this criminal activity and work closely with other agencies to catch these criminals," he added.
