Norfolk and Suffolk Police step up the fight against fraud
Norfolk and Suffolk Police Constabularies have joined a national scheme aimed at enhancing fraud investigations and cutting the amount of time officers spend taking reports of crime.
Both forces started using Action Fraud - the UK’s national fraud reporting centre - which will act as a central point of contact for all information about fraud and financially-motivated internet crime, on January 14.
Instead of officers taking reports themselves, they now redirect victims to Action Fraud where staff receive reports, on-line or on the telephone.
The reporting facility is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through www.actionfraud.police.uk.
There have been over 1 million unique visitors to the Action Fraud website since its inception.
Information provided will be assessed within Action Fraud and where a crime is established, it will be recorded and the victim provided with a national crime reference number.
Those crimes and other information reports are then transferred securely each day to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), City of London Police.
There, all crimes and information reports are analysed. This will leave just those crimes where there are actionable lines of enquiry to follow up which will then be returned as ‘packages’ to forces for allocation and further investigation.
The data provided to Action Fraud is totally secure and will only be provided to anti-fraud agencies or the police.
All Forces have agreed to participate in the scheme by April 2013. Action Fraud, a service run by the National Fraud Authority with the NFIB will provide numerous benefits:
• A single point of contact for reporting all fraud
• Joined up intelligence which will lead to more targeted enforcement action
• An effective and time-efficient route to reporting fraud
• An enhanced preventative approach nationally
Additionally, Action Fraud will free up officer time to focus only on actionable investigations, provide intelligence that can be used for preventative work, and in creating a standardised reporting system will ensure Forces have a greater understanding and awareness of national threats.
Head of the Joint Serious and Organised Crime Directorate, Detective Superintendent Alan McCullough said: “Joining Action Fraud will provide both forces with an enhanced and consistent service to victims of fraud.
“Where the victim is reporting a crime that requires action there and then, or is assessed to be vulnerable, we will continue to deal with the report as normal.
“But for all other reports, the victim will make contact with Action Fraud, by logging on to its website or via the telephone.
“Increased intelligence helps prevent other people from becoming victims themselves - your information can help to root out fraudsters and prevent future crimes.
“In addition, a central collection of crime reports enables seemingly unrelated incidents from around the country to be linked through analysis, helping identify networks of criminals.”
“Clearly, such a system has the potential to save us hundreds of hours spent filling in reports.
“It provides the public throughout the UK with one single point of contact and will mean that our time is spent investigating and preventing such offences in the first place.”
*Telephone reporting to Action Fraud is available on 0300 123 2040. Monday to Friday between 8am to 9pm and Saturday /Sunday between 9am to 5pm
Additionally you can visit the Action Fraud website for more details www.actionfraud.police.uk .
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Tuesday 18 June 2013
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