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Online Crime Centre Launches in April
Financial fraud continues to expand, often driven from overseas compounds, has steered the Government to launch an online crime squad. The new Online Crime Centre is will open in April and be populated by a wide range of specialists drawn from the police, government, intelligence agencies, banks and major technological firm providing expertise covering all aspects of financial fraud. Under the direction of the Right Honourable Lord Hanson of Flint, the Online Crime Centre will co-ordinate action against financial fraud, especially overseas scams. The government intends to invest £250 million during the course of the next three years to eliminate financial fraud.
The agencies hold specialist knowledge and understanding of the way the fraudsters tackle their victims, by sharing their collective awareness of the techniques used there is a far greater chance of apprehending them.
Joanna Bailey commented “financial fraud has a devastating effect on the victims who frequently do not recognise that they have been defrauded until their money has vanished into several different accounts as they trust the fraudster, making it hard to track. Banks and other financial organisations are attempting to identify suspicious activities, such as noting transactions where money is moved rapidly through several accounts.” Joanna further noted “frequently stolen money is immediately used to buy cryptocurrency which can be moved through several wallets which can obscure the origins”.
The Citizens Advice Bureau estimates that nine million people have been defrauded in any one year in the UK. However, the likely that the figure is significantly underestimated due to the fact that some victims do not realise that they have been scammed, others are upset and embarrassed by the fact they have fallen for a scam and do not want to report the crime. Others who have only lost small amounts of money do not report their loss.
The Home Secretary will drive global leadership in the fight against scammers at the Global Fraud Summit in Vienna next week.
The Fraud Minister, Lord Hanson said “Fraudsters are exploiting new technology, industrialising their operations and targeting the British public at scale.
That’s why we’re bringing together the key players in the system - police, intelligence agencies, banks, mobile networks, regulators and tech companies – to shut down the channels scammers rely on, wherever they operate from.
Our new fraud strategy sets out how we will use every tool at our disposal to disrupt and dismantle criminal operations, bring fraudsters to justice and strengthen protection and support for victims.
It follows the rise in overseas scam compounds operating across Southeast Asia, West Africa, Eastern Europe, India, and China – places where fraud is scripted and scaled to target thousands of victims at once.
With figures showing over two-thirds of scams originate from abroad, the Home Secretary will drive global leadership in the fight against scammers at the Global Fraud Summit in Vienna next week.
Agreements with Nigeria and Vietnam to share intelligence to bear down on fraud have already resulted in multiple arrests and scam compounds taken down in the past year. Empowered by the intelligence picture provided by the Online Crime Centre, the government will relentlessly pursue new opportunities to take out organised crime and partner with countries where fraud targeting the UK is on the rise.
The strategy also sets out how we will back law enforcement to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) to spot emerging fraud patterns, to stop suspicious bank transfers faster and to use scam-baiting chatbots to trick fraudsters and gather intelligence, before using it to bring them to justice.”
Pete O’Doherty, City of London Police Commissioner and National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Cyber and Economic Crime, stated that the reform of the response to financial fraud and cyber crime will ensure that fraudsters will “…face swifter justice and tougher financial penalties under reforms being considered as part of the strategy to speed up court processes and strengthen the use of civil powers… We are transforming the national policing response to fraud and cybercrime with an inspection regime, working with HMICFRS, that ensures every police force is making fraud a priority, but we need the wider industry collaboration set out in this new strategy to stop criminals.
We are embedding Report Fraud and building the best crime intelligence law enforcement has ever seen, which will feed the Online Crime Centre”
Giambrone and Partners’ lawyers in the banking and financial fraud department have extensive experience in restoring the funds lost by the victims. Our lawyers have developed strategies to swiftly target the fraudsters to prevent them from targeting and stealing from individuals and businesses. The Government’s upgraded strategy with the Online Crime Centre will make a significant difference as far as speed of action once a fraud has been identified which will increase the chances of returning money stolen by financial fraudsters.
Joanna Bailey heads our banking and financial fraud litigation department.
Joanna frequently leads the litigation against financial institutions involved in cryptocurrency trading disputes, as well as Forex investment issues and regulatory investigations and has some considerable success in retrieving our clients' funds lost in fraud.
She has developed a range of strategies both to find the assets of the individuals perpetrating the fraudulent schemes and restore the funds to our clients. As well as recognising culpability in the organisations facilitating (but not associated with the fraud), by failing to undertake adequate due diligence.
Joanna led the first case in Europe where proceedings were served on Persons Unknown connected with two digital wallets over the blockchain by non-fungible token or ‘NFT’ in a cryptocurrency fraud. Following this ground-breaking case Joanna was named as Lawyer of the Week in the Financial Times.
She is highly experienced in high-value out-of-court settlement negotiations and has in-depth knowledge of the Civil Procedure Rules as well as English common law.
If you believe you have been the subject of financial fraud contact Giambrone and Partners award-winning banking and financial fraud lawyers.