Yesterday, the Home Office of the United Kingdom released a blueprint to protect the public from fraud and empowerment. According to the report released by the United Kingdom, a new team of specialists will tackle these issues to stop scammers from exploiting the public.
The Home Office of the United Kingdom government announced that around 400 new specialists will be available to perform business. Additionally, there will be a National Fraud Squad which will facilitate the agencies to keep a check on these fraudsters. The newly formed National Fraud Squad will modernize how these crimes are looked into by adopting a proactive, intelligence-driven strategy. It will work with international partners, local agencies, and the UK intelligence community to tackle the scammers targeting British citizens every day.
According to the reports, there’s an increase in fraud as technology adoption increases day by day. The United Kingdom is the favorite place for fraudsters to attack. City of London Police (CoLP) estimated that over 70% of scams held in the United Kingdom are of foreign origin. The reason behind the favorite destination of the United Kingdom is the attractive wealth, says the Home Office. As new technical innovations increase at a very fast pace, new threats are also prevalent in society. In the last few years, the use of cryptocurrencies in the UK further boosted the scammer’s interest. According to the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has seen North Korea’s state-backed hackers steal cryptocurrencies through fraud and cybercrime.
The creation of the National Fraud Squad will deliver additional power to seize and recover criminal crypto justice. It will be managed under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. Since January 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority has been the anti-money laundering (AML) for crypto asset businesses. Additionally, it added rules that apply to these recently have been modernized, in part to conform to more stringent international requirements.
The report also unveiled a case study of Singapore, a key part of the United Kingdom establishing an Anti-Scam Command (Ascom) in March 2022. Also, Ascom will take help from various institutions like fintech companies, non-bank financial institutions, local and foreign banks, and cryptocurrency houses. However, the step to prioritize the digital assets’ safety of the citizens is a good step in ensuring safety.
In November 2022, a report released by the United Kingdom police unit Action Fraud said that crypto scams rose in the country by 32%. Additionally, the estimated value to 226 million pounds ($273 million) according to the police unit data. The nation has been taking action against the high rates of crypto-related crimes that have recently been occurring.
