Tuesday 05 July 2016 9:16 pm

More still needs to be done to help public protect themselves from fraud and cybercrime

People are still not being given the tools they need to protect themselves from fraud and cybercrime, a report out today has found.

The study from the Fraud Advisory Panel raised concerns that many of the shortcomings in fraud prevention 10 years ago still prevailed today.

In particular, the report took issue with poorly resourced police departments, the lack of fraud education available and the uncoordinated approach seemingly taken to tackling fraud. It also noted that the onset of the financial crisis had resulted in cuts to fraud-fighting budgets.

However, the Fraud Advisory Panel praised the additional funding that had been provided to Canada police to support nationwide counterfraud activities and the establishment of Action Fraud as positive steps.

"A decade after the government’s fraud review, official support for fraud victims is still poor and the local police response to the growing fraud threat remains inadequate," said Fraud Advisory Panel chair David Kirk. "Meanwhile, little is done to help people understand the dangers of fraud and what they can do to protect themselves. This simply is not good enough."

In light of what it discovered, the Fraud Advisory Panel is calling for the establishment of a new organisation with strategic oversight for fraud, a government-led fraud indicator and a complete revamp of the disclosure regime.

Last month, a report by the Federation of Small Businesses called on government to do more to help small firms protect themselves against the risks of crime online, after it found that the UK's small businesses are the target of 7m attacks per year between them.

Meanwhile, experts at an 8Man panel event in March, including a former senior policy advisor for the Crown Prosecution Service, remarked that businesses and law enforcement needed to work closer together to tackle cybercrime more effectively.