One in 3,000 chance of being jailed for fraud
'Scam Likely' written on a smartphoneFewer than one in 3,000 fraud offences committed last year resulted in a prison sentence.Fraud offences in England and Wales hit 3.7m in 2022, up from less than half a million a decade earlier. However, the number of offenders prosecuted has slumped from 12,378 to 3,455, figures show.The number of convicted offenders sentenced to jail for fraud has more than halved, from 2,629 in 2012 to 1,177, according to analysis of Ministry of Justice data by the Labour Party. The number of offenders receiving a caution for fraud has also dropped from 4,420 in 2012 to just 629 in 2022, it found.It comes as the shadow justice minister Anna McMorrin seeks to amend the Government’s proposed Victims Bill, which is designed to give further protection to victims of crime, so that those who have been affected by fraud are also included in the legislation.Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Attorney General, said the Government had allowed fraud to “grow out of control” and th
Fewer than one in 3,000 fraud offences committed last year resulted in a prison sentence.
Fraud offences in England and Wales hit 3.7m in 2022, up from less than half a million a decade earlier. However, the number of offenders prosecuted has slumped from 12,378 to 3,455, figures show.
The number of convicted offenders sentenced to jail for fraud has more than halved, from 2,629 in 2012 to 1,177, according to analysis of Ministry of Justice data by the Labour Party. The number of offenders receiving a caution for fraud has also dropped from 4,420 in 2012 to just 629 in 2022, it found.
It comes as the shadow justice minister Anna McMorrin seeks to amend the Government’s proposed Victims Bill, which is designed to give further protection to victims of crime, so that those who have been affected by fraud are also included in the legislation.
Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Attorney General, said the Government had allowed fraud to “grow out of control” and the “vast majority of fraudsters to act with impunity”.
She said: “Labour will treat fraud with the seriousness it deserves; we will protect the pensioners, working people and small businesses whose savings, wages and livelihoods are under threat; and we will ensure that the parasitic gangs behind the fraud industry are punished for their crimes.
“The Government can make a start in that direction today by accepting our proposal to add fraud to the list of crimes covered by the new Victims Bill, to make sure that the millions of people in our country affected by this pernicious crime receive the protection that they need.”
Last month the UK Fraud Costs Measurement Committee found that fraud cost the economy “billions of pounds every year” and accounted for more than two-fifths of all crime committed against individuals.
Earlier this year Rishi Sunak unveiled a new fraud strategy to bolster protection, including a new national fraud squad of 400 specialist investigators. The Government also said it would create a new system to make it easier to report fraud, replacing the current Action Fraud service.
A spokesman for the Home Office said: “We are absolutely committed to cracking down on scams and continue to work intensively with partners across Government, law enforcement and industry to protect the public from fraud.
“The fraud strategy sets out how we will block scams at source, bring offenders to justice and ensure the public have the advice and support they need.”
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