Fraud costing UK economy £193bn a year

• The staggering true cost of     fraud in the UK could be as high as £193bn per year according to a new     report issued today – an average of more than £3,900 per adult in the UK     with losses taking place at a rate of £6,000 per second
• This dwarfs previous estimates     produced by the UK Government which put the figure at around £50bn in 2013
• The report has been produced UK     Fraud Costs Measurement Committee (UKFCMC) supported by Experian and PKF     Littlejohn and is based on research by University of Portsmouth’s Centre     for Counter Fraud Studies, Europe’s premier research centre concerning     fraud

Jack Dromey MP, Labour’s Shadow Police Minister, said:

 “This shocking report has revealed the startling true cost of fraud, with losses taking place at a rate of £6,000 per second.

“It is the latest in a series of warnings that fraud is a significant and growing problem, and yet less than 1% of these crimes result in a conviction.

“You are now more likely to be mugged online than in the street, and experts are right to say that rapidly growing cybercrime can be more costly, upsetting and difficult to investigate than ‘conventional’ crimes like robbery.

 “Victims of fraud are being let down by this Tory Government”