Fraud still rising

Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, must have heaved sigh of relief to read that overall recorded crime in England and Wales fell by 0.2 per cent in the 12 months to September 2000. However fraud and forgery bucked this trend by rising 4.6 per cent over the same period. The Home Office bulletin notes “this was the smallest increase since the counting rules were revised in 1998.” The growth was 10.1 per cent in 1998 and 29.8 per cent in 1999. The figures for the years to September 1996 and September 1997 were 1.2 per cent and 1.0 per cent respectively. The step-change in 1998 and 1999 is thought to reflect the inclusion of unreported cheque and credit card offences which police discover in later investigations and an overhaul in reporting procedures by some forces. Any movement therefore is now from a markedly higher base, which suggests that fraud remains deep-rooted and thriving. The survey looks only at the numbers of notifiable offences and not at their value. In the absence of such statistics it remains unlikely that political or public attention will focus on the true cost and significance of fraud.