Police get tough on fraud in dawn raids across UK

Dawn raids by more than 20 police forces across the UK took place on Thursday and Friday in a special identity fraud-busting operation.

Held in National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, this action by the police was the culmination of months of work by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), CIFAS – The UK’s Fraud Prevention Service and over 20 forces across the UK.

Chief Executive of CIFAS, Peter Hurst, comments “Such action by so many forces is unprecedented and we commend all the forces involved. Fraud (and identity fraud in particular) is rarely committed by casual opportunists, but is the choice of lifestyle and organised criminals who make a living from fraud and other serious criminality.”

“Police resources are such that they have never been able to make fraud a priority. The All Party Parliamentary Group Report on Identity Fraud (published on 7 October 2007) states ‘Law enforcement and the prison system is not sufficiently resourced to deal with the volume of ID fraud in the UK’ and recommended ‘a greater allocation of resources to issues of identity fraud, through a re-prioritisation of the area.’ This operation (Operation Snow Tiger) represents an exciting first step towards moving fraud further up the agenda. Our hope is that the arrest and prosecution of these criminals who use fraud to fund a criminal lifestyle will result in fraud receiving the priority it deserves within police performance plans.”