It is completely unacceptable that predatory criminals take money out of the pockets of hard working people, businesses, and organisations, callously targeting the most vulnerable, online and in their homes. The volume of and severity of fraud also undermines public confidence in the rule of law and threatens our national and economic security.
As such, I welcome the Government's new fraud strategy which will deliver a ten per cent cut in fraud on 2019 levels by December 2024. This will be achieved through a number of measures including establishing a new national fraud squad with over 400 new posts and make fraud a priority for the police. The Government will also ban SIM farms which are used by criminals to send thousands of scam texts at once; replace Action Fraud with a state-of-the-art system for victims to report fraud and cyber crimes to the police; and change the law so that more victims of fraud will get their money back.
Further, the Government is aware that 70 per cent of fraud in the UK either starts overseas or has an international link. As such, the Government has committed to work bilaterally to raise fraud as a key priority and to drive forward global efforts to tackle these crimes. I understand that the Home Secretary will host the first global fraud summit in the UK to guarantee international collaboration to tackle this threat.
I am confident that these steps along with other measures will stop fraud at source and pursue those responsible wherever they are in the world.