In the UK, the government is increasing its efforts to combat fraud. With the recent news of the steep rise in reported cases, they just declared an “expanded” strategy to address it. This strong approach comes from a recent report by the UK’s Office for National Statistics. It underscores a troubling 19% rise in fraud rates from this time last year. A $35 million Georgian scam operation has become one of the largest threats. It mainly focuses on UK residents, underscoring the recent concerning developments unveiled.
British victims lost an average of £2,800—almost a third of the average revenue from the scam, at about £9 million in total. This fake scam operation first came to public attention through a leaked dataset that exposed more than one million bogus phone calls. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Guardian were among important partners in sifting through the leaking data. Of the 2,000 victims globally who were defrauded, 652 resided in the UK. Many of these people lost over £100,000 each!
Anti-scam campaign groups, including the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), are mobilising to help. They are calling on UK police forces to do more to crack down on fraudsters. To illustrate just how easy scammers have it, Jorij Abraham, managing director of GASA, advised the following. He called for increased funding for police departments worldwide.
“You can scam and go free. There is hardly any risk. It is easy, low cost and quite rewarding. We are calling on politicians around the globe to give law enforcement more charter – more resources.” – Jorij Abraham
In Georgia, lawmakers were surprised to learn that prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into the Tbilisi-based operation that even managed to orchestrate the scam. But despite the NCA having led the investigation into these revelations, it hasn’t publicly confirmed its cooperation with international agencies.
Anti-scam advocates have been loud and clear that the focus should be on accountability and continuing to go after fraudsters forever. Lord Hanson emphasized that it should be about getting justice for victims.
“We need to hold criminals to account for actions, pursue them relentlessly and make sure we get outcomes … for victims.” – Lord Hanson