But the Office of National Statistics (ONS) believes that these figures are being driven by increased reporting to the police, and the police handling and recording of those reports.
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Released today as part of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), the Developments in the Coverage of Fraud section estimated over five million incidents of fraud had taken place in the United Kingdom over the past year, with more than half of those incidents involving initial financial loss to the victim – though it was often possible to reclaim, at least in part, the losses suffered. That compares to 6.5 million incidents of standard, offline crime.
The ONS also estimated via a field survey that there were 2.5 million crimes under the Computer Misuse Act, which includes virus infections and hacked accounts, although the former was several times more common.
That’s because, up until now, incidents of cybercrime haven’t been included in the official figures.
But ONS stats in the past have estimated that there are several million cyber-crimes in the United Kingdom, carving out cyber-crime as making up the most significant proportion of United Kingdom crime.
“The profile of cases covered by the CSEW cover the full spectrum of harm or loss”.
Yep, incredible as it sounds, officials have never actually included phishing scams, data theft and online fraud in the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: “These statistics show what I have been saying for a long time that crime is changing and not falling”.
The new figures on fraud and cyber crimes do not show if the occurrence of these offences is going up or down, according to the ONS. Numerous crimes that are increasing in prevalence need much more intensive police work and investigation.
It is lowest estimate since the CSEW began in 1981.
Cyber crime and fraud figures highlight opportunities for brokers as market encouraged to develop cyber expertise. The response to the figures has been positive, despite the obvious bad news, because it is good to get a handle on these kinds of things, albeit a short handle.
As Jeff Farrar, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said of the 41% rise: “This directly reflects the efforts being made by forces to improve consistency in crime recording”.
On average one in 12 adults is a victim of fraud and one in 22 is a victim of cyber fraud, the figures show.
Overall police recorded crime excluding fraud was 121,250 in the county for the year ending June 2015, up from 102,412 on the previous year.
The Crime Survey suggests a 25% increase in violence, with murders at their highest level for four years.
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There have been warnings that the figures will add millions of offences to the overall crime count at a stroke, with claims it could rise by up to 40 per cent.
