Crime is down 9%... but fraud soars as thieves move to the web

Cybercrime: The Office for National Statistics data exposed soaring online crime, such as credit card fraud, bogus online auctions and online dating fraud

Burglary and robbery are going out of fashion as criminals turn to online fraud and other cybercrimes.
Crime fell by 9 per cent last year, reaching the lowest level since records began in 1981, official figures released yesterday show.
Police welcomed sharp declines in  burglary, robbery, violent attacks and car crime – but the Office for National Statistics data exposed soaring online crime, such as credit card fraud, bogus online auctions and online dating fraud.
It raises fears official data may not show the true scale of offences because people who are caught by an online swindle often do not bother to make a report.
There was a 27 per cent rise in fraud offences last year, which may be partly thanks to a new centralised reporting service, Action Fraud.
Three people a day – 1,212 last year – are falling victim to an emerging type of fraud tied to dating websites, the figures show.
Fraudsters use fake profiles to befriend rich and vulnerable victims. They gain their trust, then invent a reason why they need a large sum of money.
Foreign cheats may ask for cash for a flight to the UK – but never arrive.
Other common offences include online auctions and sales sites where the goods never arrive.
Some 22,694 such crimes were recorded last year, while another 11,048 involved ‘computer misuse’ such as hacking and viruses.
There were a similar number of reported plastic card frauds, including credit, debit and store cards.
John Flatley, head of crime at the ONS, said: ‘This is a new area of crime that is on the rise.
‘It is difficult to determine how much that is due to an increase in prevalence of crime or an increase in publicity for Action Fraud.’

Experts have struggled to explain the staggering reductions in crime over the last two decades.
There were 8.6million offences in England and Wales in the year to March 2013 – fewer than half the number reported at the 1995 peak, the ONS’s crime survey found.

On patrol: Experts have struggled to explain the staggering reductions in crime over the last two decades

DEATH OF THE BEAT BOBBY?

‘Plastic policemen’ and volunteers are replacing the bobby on the beat, a watchdog said yesterday.

Some neighbourhood teams are made up only of community support officers and special constables, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said. It added the change is ‘eroding’ the ‘cornerstones’ of policing.

Critics fear the move could weaken confidence in the thin blue line.

HMIC said chief officers are diluting local teams to bolster the ranks of response officers who answer 999 calls – a move which could turn policing into a ‘reactive’ service, damaging efforts to cut crime.

The findings came in a review into how forces across England and Wales are dealing with budget cuts.

It found PCSOs are being asked to take on more responsibility despite having less training.

Meanwhile the number of volunteers is set to rise by 60 per cent by 2015, with an extra 24,800 officers.
Constables said they no longer do the ‘walking and talking’ and are losing touch with the public.

Zoe Billingham, of HMIC, said: ‘We are very concerned about some of these changes.’

The watchdog’s analysis revealed there will be 31,600 fewer officers and staff in March 2015 than there were in March 2010.

Mr Flatley said yesterday’s figures may hide the scale of online crime. He said: ‘We have people who have taken the trouble to report fraud to police. We know there’s going to be much more that is not captured.’
Deputy Chief Constable Jeff Farrar, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, linked the rise in fraud to more efficient recording.
But he added: ‘It also shows us criminals are adopting new tactics and crime is moving away from traditional forms to the online world.’
Steve Williams, chairman of the Police Federation, said: ‘The constant changes in crime types mean some crimes were not recorded accurately or even existed to the same extent in the past. Can we know that we are accurately recording all types of cybercrime?’
But Home Secretary Theresa May hailed the fall in crime as a ‘significant achievement’ at a time of budget cuts.
She said: ‘Police forces have shown an impressive ability to rise to the challenge of making savings while still cutting crime.’
On a visit to Hammersmith police station in West London, Prime Minister David Cameron congratulated the police, who he said had done ‘magnificently’ and had managed to ‘do more with less resources’.

█ The Jimmy Savile scandal has led to a surge in the reporting of historic sex offences, with 950 last year dating back at least 20 years.

It is thought victims are willing to come forward when they see police taking similar crimes seriously.

Recorded rape rose 2 per cent last year, and sex crime by 1 per cent.

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