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Metropolitan Police joins forces with OFT to tackle economic crime

123/06    10 August 2006

The Office of Fair Trading and Metropolitan Police have joined forces to tackle economic crimes pitched at the elderly and vulnerable.

The OFT's scambusters team and the Sterling Prevention Unit of the Economic and Specialist Crime Directorate of the Metropolitan Police will jointly host a 'Low Value, High Volume Economic Crime Seminar for London Safer Neighbourhoods' at City Hall today. The seminar is aimed at those organisations that have responsibility for protecting the elderly and vulnerable in London, such as local authority trading standards and social services departments, Crime and Disorder Reduction Partners and Safer Neighbourhood Teams. Speakers will be highlighting what is being done both within London and nationally to combat frauds such as mass marketed scams, doorstep crime and counterfeit goods.

Tackling mass marketed scams is a priority for the OFT. OFT research shows that nearly half the adult population of the UK have been targeted by a scam and that around eight per cent have been a victim. This and other types of economic crime often see a large number of victims hand over relatively small amounts of money to fraudsters.

The Chairman of the OFT, Philip Collins, will be giving an opening address to the Economic Crime Seminar. He said:

'Economic crime causes significant harm to the economy and wider society, and many victims are vulnerable members of our communities. The OFT is committed to working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police, Trading Standards Services and others to tackle the perpetrators of scams and other economic crimes.'

NOTES

1. The OFT has previously joined forces with the Metropolitan Police, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and Western Union to help stamp out money transfer fraud by alerting customers to the risks of being the target of scams. See press release 191/05.

2. Tackling the consumer detriment caused by mass-marketed scams is one of the OFT's five priority areas identified in its Annual Plan. As part of its commitment to reducing consumer detriment caused by scams, the OFT has commissioned research to establish the prevalence of scams, the demographics of those who fall victim to scams, and the level of financial loss incurred. The full results will be made available in the autumn.

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