In the week commencing March 22 a new centre to combat fraud will be launched in the South West by the National Fraud Authority (NFA).
The Action Fraud centre has already been trialed in the West Midlands and North West regions of the UK and has been successful in providing a central point of contact for the public to report cases of fraud and to seek advice.
One of the greatest barriers to detecting cases of fraud is the reluctance of the public to report such crimes because they feel embarrassed and wrongly believe that it is their fault.
It is hoped that by raising awareness of this crime and opening up channels of communication, it will break the silence that fraudsters so often rely on.
The centre will provide the means to report all types of fraud including identity theft, investment, credit card and consumer fraud.
This information will then be fed into the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) which will provide law enforcement and counter-fraud agencies with improved information to enable them to better target fraudsters and better protect the public. This collaboration between the forces, the NFIB and Action Fraud will help tighten the net on offenders.
Dr Bernard Herdan, Chief Executive of the NFA, said: “Action fraud is at the heart of our strategy to make the UK a more hostile environment for fraud. Victims of fraud often don’t want to talk about it because they feel embarrassed. They not only suffer a financial loss but a loss of self esteem because they blame themselves for being taken in. But the best way to fight fraud and fraudsters is to get people talking about it and reporting it to Action Fraud.”
Wiltshire Police’s Assistant Chief Constable, Mike Veale, said: “Action fraud will support victims, help to prevent fraud and better enable Wiltshire Police to investigate such crimes by providing us with access to national intelligence.
Fraudsters can target people in Wiltshire regardless of where they are based, so by providing a national reporting centre we will be in a much stronger position to tackle fraud locally.By working together, it is hoped that Action Fraud and Wiltshire Police will be able to offer a better level of service to the public and ultimately, bring more offenders to justice.”
If individuals or business operators have been a victim of fraud in the last 12 months, they are encouraged to contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via Textphone on 0300 123 2050. Or they can visit –
