The City of London Police Commissioner Ian Dyson was a victim of credit card fraud some years ago when criminals used his credit card to pay for a hotel stay and tried to pay for their car insurance with his card.

It is estimated that 5.6 million fraud and cyber-crimes are committed each year, of which only about 10% are reported to the Police.   This does include virus attacks etc. and some things that many people would not expect to report to the Police but that still leaves a lot of crimes that are unreported, but should be reported.

Recent statistics show that of the fraud and cyber-crimes reported, only about 10% are investigated by Police.

A lot of online crime is effectively anonymous and there is little anyone can do to track down and stop the perpetrators.

Prevention can be the most practical method for getting to grips with such crimes – warning and educating  people to have proper security for their online accounts and  to behave with common sense in all dealings online.

However, the Police do have a great deal of success in restricting the actions of the criminals.

Each year, the Police are shutting down several hundred thousand websites, bank accounts and phone lines connected to cyber criminals.

The banks and other financial institutions and payment services have a huge role to play in keeping us safe online and paying recompense to victims when necessary.

The authorities are progressively clamping down on online crime, but are always several steps behind the criminals.

Be careful

Do you have an opinion on this matter? Please comment in the box below.