Credit Card Fraud and Identity Theft

Mr. Gray
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government are taking to combat (a) credit card fraud and (b) offences related to identity theft perpetrated over the internet.

Mr. Alan Campbell
The Government are determined to tackle the problem of fraud, whether the victim is a major organisation or a single individual.

Government have allocated £29 million over three years to implement the recommendations of the Fraud Review. This includes the creation of a National Fraud Strategic Authority, which became operational in October last year; a new national lead force role for the City of London Police; and a National Fraud Reporting Centre (NFRC), expected to go live in 2009, which will radically streamline the way that the public report fraud, including fraud committed over the internet, to the police. The NFRC will also equip law enforcement agencies with a powerful intelligence tool and help form the basis of better prevention advice and alerts to fraud threats for business and the public.

The Government are providing £3.5 million over three years to create the Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU). This will provide support to the Police Service in developing a structured response to online crime, and its initial focus will be on the area of fraud-related electronic crime, working with the NFRC to develop a response to reports on such matters. The PCeU will act as the central unit for the police on promotion of standards for training, procedure and response to e-crime. It will bring together forces, the National Police Improvement Agency and other groups to develop training and to coordinate activity to build up the skill levels within policing. Outside of this, the Serious Organised Crime Agency will continue its on-going work to tackle the international and serious organised crime groups operating on the internet, supporting the NFRC and PCeU where appropriate.