One in ten people fall victim to online crime and social media giants must play a part in tackling the issue, an MP has warned.
More than 3.5 million cases of fraud are reported in England and Wales each year with online fraud growing but not enough focus is being given to the crime, according to Esther McVey.
The Tatton MP, who is a member of the Common’s Home Affairs Select Committee, questioned Home Secretary Amber Rudd on measures Government were taking to combat the widespread crime.
Ms McVey said: “Given the enormity of these numbers is online fraud and fraud really getting the priority it needs? Only 27 out of the 41 police and crime commissioners referred to it in their crime plans up to April 2017.”
Ms Rudd accepted more needed to be done to push the matter up the agenda.
She added: “You are right, you are 20 times more likely to be a victim of crime on line than off line and we need to make sure that more attention and effort goes into looking after people online.”
Ms McVey said she feared the recorded crimes could be the “tip of the iceberg” given some banks could deal with fraud cases themselves as to avoid bad publicity. Ms Rudd told the Committee that larger organisations were reluctant to come forward with numbers but there is a “new shot of enthusiasm and focus” for tackling fraud when a card is not present.
Offering a solution to the growing problem Ms McVey said increasing numbers of crimes are taking place on line and therefore those that benefit from the internet should help burden the cost.
She added: “Isn’t it about time the main stakeholders and main beneficiaries, in what I call the ‘Virtual world’, like the Google’s, the YouTube’s, the Facebook’s look after that space, pay for that space and police that space and not leave it to what is the ‘Real world’ and the police forces which can sometimes be a step behind in this age of technology.
“I think that would be the key area going forward, that the people who benefit from the virtual world should be taking part in clearing it up.”
Ms Rudd said internet companies already pay a charge to cover cost of fraud but she would look further into Ms McVey’s suggestion.
Government said it worked with the Financial Sector to introduce chip and pin to help reduce levels of fraud but accepted new developments were needed. Measures being examined included a two factor authentication process which could mean an additional password or code as well as the card details. It is estimated about 1 million cases of fraud are committed each year without a card being present.