How can government tackle fraud?

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Fraud is the UK’s most common crime. But despite 3.5 million incidents reported in 2022/23, 40% of all reported crimes, only one in a thousand results in a charge or summons. So why is there such a huge gap between preventing, detecting and prosecuting this crime – and what can be done to fix the problem?

A wide range of organisations have responsibility for tackling fraud, including the Home Office, National Crime Agency, Serious Fraud Office, City of London Police, Metropolitan Police Service, Financial Conduct Authority and the National Cyber Security Centre. However, there are problems with coordination, capacity and capability.

So what can government and others do to help prevent fraud? How can coordination among the various agencies responsible for tackling fraud be improved? And what steps could be taken to help increase detection and prosecution rates?

We were joined by an expert panel, including:

• Francesca Carlesi, CEO of Revolut UK
• Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre
• Nick Stapleton, Co-Presenter of BBC Scam Interceptors
• Rt Hon Emily Thornberry MP, Shadow Attorney General

The event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

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We would like to thank Revolut for kindly supporting this event.