As the world emerges from the long shadow of COVID-19, like many countries, the UK is grappling to contain an upward trend in fraud. By its very nature, fraud is a shapeshifting creature of its time, and those committing it are almost endlessly adaptable in their ability to exploit new technology. Against a backdrop of high-profile ‘show’ trials, one might question whether the fight against fraud is really being won, as it is now the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales.
So often, fraud is wrongly thought of as a ‘victimless’ crime. The findings in the ‘Fraud and the Justice System’ report produced in October 2022 by the House of Commons Justice Committee are arresting: beyond the economic cost, it has become the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales, now accounting for more than 40% of all recorded crime.
