Cifas responds to TCSEW results for September 2021

Responding to the ONS release of the 'Crime Survey for England and Wales: year ending September 2021', Cifas CEO, Mike Haley, said:

‘The latest crime statistics shine a harsh light on the gap between the vast scale of fraud and the tiny proportion of police funding dedicated to fraud. It is scandalous that fraud accounts for almost half of all crime, and continues to grow, but just 2% of all police funding is allocated to tackling it.

‘Too often other crime types are used as an excuse for not better resourcing the fight against fraud, when in fact fraud both funds and enables other serious and organised crime types, from people trafficking and human slavery, to terrorism. Indeed, little organised criminality could be carried out without identity fraud to provide access to fraudulent funds, accounts and documentation.

‘Fraud causes grave harm, represents a national security risk and must be prioritised accordingly by government and policing. These statistics are a timely reminder, at a time of focus on COVID-19 scheme losses, that we can ill afford to simply write-off fraud.

‘Government needs to urgently bring forward the Economic Crime Reform Bill, increase investment in policing fraud, and develop a dedicated national strategy to tackle fraud.’

Notes to editors

About Mike Haley

Mike has more than 30 years' experience of tackling and preventing fraud across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, including considerable experience directing investigations, as well as developing prevention and detection strategies. He has led investigative teams in the NHS, Ministry of Defence, Office of Fair Trading, HM Revenue & Customs and Solicitors Regulation Authority. He also worked at the National Fraud Authority directing cross sector fraud prevention strategies including on mortgage fraud and identity crime. He joined Cifas as Deputy Chief Executive in May 2015, and became Chief Executive in May 2018.

About Cifas

Cifas is the UK’s fraud prevention service. We lead the fight against fraud by sharing data, intelligence and learning. The organisations that collaborate with us are drawn from all sectors, operating in both the public and private sectors working together to stop fraud. A full list of our members can be found on our website.

Cifas data is included in the Office of National Statistics England and Wales Crime Statistics of police recorded crime and works alongside law enforcement agencies in tackling fraud.

Organisations that work with Cifas, contribute to and benefit from the UK’s largest databases of fraud risk data and intelligence. We are committed to the principle of collaboration, which connects and drives our community, and enables the sharing of:

Data

We enable the secure sharing of high quality, trusted data to fight fraud. Our databases are the most comprehensive and diverse sources of fraud risk data in the UK.

Intelligence

We provide research and dynamic intelligence that influences the threat picture and strengthens the response against fraud.

Learning

We are a leading provider of accredited education and trusted training.

Further information

For more information from Cifas, please contact

Matt Pearson, Press & PR Manager
matthew.pearson@cifas.org.uk
+44 (0)20 4551 7956

Contact us at press@cifas.org.uk