Agenda item

This proactive scrutiny session will allow the Panel to scrutinise and support the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) in his intention to keep the residents and communities of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight safer, through preventing cyber fraud.

This scrutiny will consider how the PCC is working with partners to identify and prevent these crimes, and review how effectively the PCC is holding the Chief Constable to account for ensuring that operational policing plans are reflective of the strategic priority placed upon tackling cyber fraud. This scrutiny will also consider how the PCC is seeking to educate and inform the residents of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to recognise and protect themselves from cyber fraud.

The scope for this session is attached as Appendix One. Written evidence has been received and is attached as Appendix Two. The Panel will hear oral evidence from the below stakeholders:

a) DI Lloyd Tobin - Hampshire Constabulary

b) Margaret Filley - Hampshire and IOW Neighbourhood Watch

c) James Payne and Natasha Fletcher - The Office of the Police and Crime and Commissioner for Hampshire and the IOW

d) TBC

Members heard that this proactive scrutiny session would be focused on the topic of ‘Cyber Fraud’. A scope for this review (see Appendix One to Item Six in the Minute Book) had been agreed by the Plan working group, who had written to stakeholders in the previous weeks to collate evidence (see Appendix Two to Item Six in the Minute Book).

The key questions asked of witnesses were:

·      How well has the PCC, through holding the Chief Constable to account, ensured that operational policing plans are sufficiently robust to meet the strategic threat posed by cyber-enabled fraud?

·      How effective have the PCC and his office been in engaging with appropriate partners to ensure a joined-up approach to identifying and tackling cyber-enabled fraud?

·      What efforts have been made by the PCC to educate and inform the residents of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to recognise and protect themselves from cyber-enabled fraud?

·      What are the key priorities which need to be considered by the PCC to reduce the threat posed to the residents of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight through cyber-enabled fraud?

·      What best practice exists which could also be considered by the PCC in his approach to preventing and tackling cyber-enabled fraud?

It was heard that this proactive scrutiny session would allow the Panel to scrutinise and support the Commissioner, given his intention to keep the residents and communities of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight safer, through preventing cyber fraud. This scrutiny aimed to consider how the PCC was working with partners to identify and prevent these crimes, and further review how effectively the PCC was holding the Chief Constable to account for ensuring that operational policing plans were reflective of the strategic priority placed upon tackling cyber fraud. It was heard this scrutiny would also consider how the PCC is seeking to educate and inform the residents of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to recognise and protect themselves from cyber fraud.

The Chairman explained that the oral evidence giving session would take the format of a witness expert panel, with all representatives present being given the opportunity to answer questions from the wider Panel. Discussion was encouraged, and any questions that were not answered on the day would be fed back to witnesses for a written response after the meeting.

The expert witnesses were provided with the opportunity to introduce themselves and invited to give a short presentation to the Panel discussing the role of their organisation in preventing and tackling cyber fraud. Through these presentations Members heard:

·         Cybercrime activity is growing fast and evolving at pace, becoming both more aggressive and technically proficient. Although general cyber awareness is improving in the UK, there remains a lack of understanding of cybercrimes, including cyber enabled fraud.

·         Approximately 1000 victims from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight report fraud each month. Of those reporting 39% were individuals, with the remainder being businesses and organisations.

·         Much of this defrauding is taking place online. Identifying that nobody is immune from being defrauded it was recognised by all witnesses that the vulnerability to cyber fraud was wide and so it was important to communicate prevention message to all.

·         Dating and sexting are both being exploited by criminals to defraud individuals, with one case recording £130,000 loss to the victim through romance fraud.

·         Another area of increasing concern highlighted was mandate fraud, where individuals or businesses are fraudulently persuaded to change a direct debit or other mandated payment to send funds to the perpetrators account.

·         Criminals will look to layer their fraud to prevent detection. The constabulary had seen a rise locally of students being targeted and unknowingly agreeing to have high value fraudulently obtained items delivered to their address for a very small monetary value, which would later be collected by the perpetrators. Such activity has worsened the criminal aspect, by engaging others unwittingly into a fraudulent scheme.

·         Action Fraud are the nationally agreed body to take reports of fraud and record them before disseminating them to local forces as necessary.

·         The criminality elements were the responsibility of Hampshire Constabulary with  the OPCC are focussing on educating and informing residents to keep themselves safe online.

·         Hampshire Constabulary were one of the first forces to have digital investigation strategies at force level. The force’s Digital Investigation team benefits from a Detective Sergeant, four specialist investigators and an individual officer proficient in the understanding of use of the internet and cyber technology.  It was heard that this team was an expensive resource, but an essential part of the Constabulary’s approach to tackling cyber crime. The officers engaged in the team required a lot of regular training and access to the latest equipment to identify and keep up with criminals.

·         It was recognised that due to the growing shift away from traditional crime types and the rapid increase of cyber crime, that cyber offences would need to be mainstreamed by the Constabulary in the future. The complexity and technological elements of digital crime mean that it will remain specialised until a level of understanding exists across the force and to know where they can go to seek specialist advice when needed. It was recognised that the Chief Constable has a significant challenge ahead to meet the changing criminal landscape. The OPCC highlighted that the transformation fund was being considered as a source of funding where possible to support innovation to meet the threat and keep communities safer.

• Op Signature is Hampshire Constabulary’s campaign to identify and support vulnerable victims of fraud within the two counties. It was initially developed by Sussex Police in response to scam mail and has since been extended to include all vulnerable victims of fraud. Hampshire is one of six forces who have adopted the scheme with many other forces are looking to adopt it in the near future. The OPCC are jointly working with Hampshire Constabulary and now Hampshire and Isle of Wight Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) in the public launch of Operation Signature in April 2018

·         A number of real life examples were provided by the witnesses, highlighting how residents from across the Hampshire policing area were falling victim to cyber fraud, with witnesses demonstrating the impact upon the victims.

·         NHW had observed increasing concern from residents regarding the growth of online crime. In response to the concerns of residents a Deputy Chief Constable went into the community and spoke to 100+ residents to raise awareness and provide reassurance regarding the constabularies approach to cyber crime. Residents expressed their appreciation for this engagement by the Constabulary and the recognition of the extent of the problem.

·         Following this meeting Hampshire Constabulary invited NHW to work alongside them strategically to raise awareness and spread cyber crime prevention messages and the two organisations have now worked closely for the last two years. Until November 2017, NHW had no engagement with the PCC on the topic. Since that date they have been actively engaged with the PCC and his office and have already held two meetings with them during January.

·         Hampshire Constabulary’s Communications team and the PCCs Communications team are developing their working relationship to better coordinate campaigns jointly and collaboratively, developing and building upon the landscape of cyber and fraud, including cyber enabled fraud. The first jointly developed online campaign around ‘online shopping’ and the related fraud and cybercrimes took place in December 2017.

·         At recent older person’s fayres, in late 2017, the older driver’s awareness event the OPCC engaged with local communities specifically around fraud and cyber enabled crimes. The OPCC have also visited secondary schools and people working with young children to share cyber safety messages and will be holding their first cyber protect and young person’s conference in collaboration with Hampshire Constabulary on January 30th 2018.

·         The Constabulary felt the PCC had a genuine interest in the Constabulary and had demonstrated his support of the force’s approach.

The Chairman thanked the witnesses for preparing their presentations and sharing their thoughts with the Panel. The expert witness panel were then asked a number of questions relating to the written evidence received. Members heard:

• There is a national publicity campaign due to be rolled out in the spring focussed upon cyber safety. In readiness for this campaign Action Fraud will be rolling out the facility for victims to report incidents of fraud online, as well as to continue reporting by phone.
• OPCC supported Hampshire Constabulary in producing their “Little book of Big scams”. This booklet, reproduced with permission of the Metropolitan Police Service, gives help and advice to members of the public on protecting themselves from a wide range of fraud types and encourages reporting of fraud offences. The booklet was handed out and well received at the recent communication events with older residents.
• Compared nationally, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have seen a higher than average take up of victim support, with the greatest area of uptake being for online shopping fraud. The OPCC are working alongside NHW and Hampshire Constabulary to identify opportunities to further enhance this take and reach more people.
• If the Constabulary are able to investigate and prosecute the perpetrator/s then they will try and recover the monies lost for the victim. If there is no identified offender then the Constabulary will provide advice on how a victim may be able to recover funds, for example through credit card providers or criminal compensation schemes, but recovery of losses is not always possible.

Mr Bob Purkiss left the meeting at this point.

• NHW explained that their ethos is that crime cannot flourish in communities that care. They’ve noticed that more and more people are coming forward to discuss concerns around cyber safety. It is felt that more public awareness is needed, not to raise the fear of crime but to help people feel stronger.
• Locally messages have been circulated by the Constabulary and OPCC to encourage residents to report all offences, so ensure that everything is recorded and logged, as it is recognised that cyber crime is significantly under reported.
• Hampshire Constabulary noted that they are working with small to medium business to raise awareness of how they can protect themselves and to provide advice on how to manage a fraudulent incident if it occurs.
• The OPCC is a partner in the Safer Hampshire Business Partnership, led by the Constabulary, Chief Inspector Patrick Holdaway. This group has recently undertaken a Safer Hampshire Business Partnership survey. Their focus has been on encouraging and enabling businesses to protect themselves and gives businesses a network for discussion. The OPCC also explained that they are currently working in partnership with the Federation of Small Businesses.
• It was recognised that sharing best practice is a vital tool, because most cyber fraud offences are preventable if business and residents are well informed and educating on spotting the signs of fraudulent activities. A key focus of communications is helping people to help themselves and to help individuals and business to understanding how to avoid becoming victims.
• Discussion was held around what measures had been put in place to respond to potential system failures in essential public services, following the recent attack on NHS systems. It was heard that detailed refining has been undertaken on any identified vulnerability on hardware and software. Police ICT has changed its management with fundamental reinvestment across the whole of policing with a focus on risk and protection, driven by the PCC.
• Crime is moving online and cyber enabled crime is going increase in impact. It was considered that there would an ongoing increase in cyber crime and the reporting of it over the next 12 months. Crypto currency fraud in particular is anticipated to increase and is a growing area of concern. This area of crime is only expected to grow and education will be vital to prevent and protect our communities and businesses.