Government combats online fraud with new cyber team
Enforcers will target email and internet scams
By Anh Nguyen | Computerworld UK | Published: 12:45, 16 February 2010
The Government is spending £4.3 million in fighting cybercrime over three years.
The funding, announced by Consumer Minister Kevin Brennan, will go towards creating a new "cyber enforcement team" at the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
The OFT has already set up a laboratory featuring specialist equipment using the funds, and the new team will be trained by an international expert in fighting internet and email scams.
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New, trained trading standards enforcers with specialist equipment will also be placed in every region of England and in Scotland and Wales.
Scams cost three million UK consumers £3.5 billion a year, according to the OFT.
Its enforcement teams will focus on scams including fake products and traders who try to hide their identity, ticket scams for non-existent events, and scam websites selling counterfeit goods.
Heather Clayton, OFT senior director, said: "The enforcement team will be looking at the activities of a wide range of commercial websites and taking action in cases where consumers’ rights are being abused."
Meanwhile, the OFT will continue to pass on cases to the Police, Serious and Organised Crime Agency and Companies Investigations Branch when appropriate.
The new enforcement team will work alongside other organisations that tackle online crime, including the Government’s National Fraud Authority, the City of London Police’s National Fraud Reporting Centre and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. The Metropolitan Police also has a Police Central eCrime Unit, which also aims to tackle large scale internet crime.
