My feature in last month’s Professional Security, discussing the latest published fraud figures released for England and Wales certainly pressed a few buttons, judging by the amount of fraud cases being brought to my attention which appear to be slipping through the detection net. Mainly of course because of the vast number being committed. As an ex-fraud squad detective I am obviously concerned by this although I have to admit that when wearing my private security industry hat it highlights the enormous scope of opportunity available in our industry for new business.
I was intrigued by a detailed article written in the Daily Mail in July by Neil Tweedie about computer robots and workers in third world sweat shops snapping up online tickets for all the big concerts and sporting events in the UK. Apparently this robot ticket harvesting exercise described as the ‘ultimate parasite industry’ which gives no benefit to the artist, fan or venue, only creating millions of pounds for the organised crime syndicates and their ticket tout lackies. Be surprised then when I tell you that this crime enterprise is estimated to be producing over one billion pounds per year in the UK alone. Although computer ticket harvesting is a crime under the Computer Misuse Act as well as under Consumer Protection Regulations the chances of detection and prosecution are now so remote because of the way it is orchestrated, the offenders are not content in operating a low key exercise. The irony in all this is that the real victims (normally ordinary members of the public) do not in most cases even realise they are being systematically ripped off. They think it’s simply ticket demand dictating prices.
Techno touts
Street ticket touts often seen outside music and sporting venues are described by Neil Tweedie as dinosaurs in a cottage industry. Once viewed as a last resort by the public to buy and sell tickets they are now totally overshadowed by the organised techno-ticket-touts with their custom-built software saturating ticket selling websites in minutes. They use vast numbers of false identities and credit card numbers to suck out hundreds of prime seats while genuine purchasers going through the normal online application on their computers do not stand a chance against these techno-touts. It appears that robotic type computer touting has no boundaries and although information suggests there are some 1200 operating in the UK alone they are competing with seriously organised crime syndicates based in Eastern Europe and the USA. So if you ever wondered why you can never seem to buy those prime tickets online you now have a small insight as to why.
And there’s more
Data obtained by the Sunday Times under the Freedom of Information Act and published in August this year revealed more alarming statistics about the total crimes flagged as internet enabled. Information from police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland show they received a total of 43,883 reports between April 2015 and June 2016 when the requirement for them to log such crime related to the internet came into force. A category of crime which now includes offences such as online harassment, blackmail and death threats where the internet played a part form part of these latest statistics. One of the worrying aspects of certain categories of internet enabled crime is that it commonly happens in the workplace during working hours. It would be naive to believe that our own industry remains untouched. It therefore becomes essential for employers to get up to speed with the guidelines required to best protect employees in the workplace and what action to take should such an offence occur. Surprisingly there were in fact over 5000 claims of sexual crimes logged, which included revenge porn, grooming and child pornography. The statistics do not lie and clearly reveal the wide range of crimes which have now materialised and moved onto the online world. One bold headline in the Sunday Times in August read ‘police are swamped by tsunami of online filth’ and suggests that the growth in this type of internet enabled crime is exposing how our police forces are simply struggling to keep up.
The statistics
The lowest rates of charges for internet related crime is 3pc and this occurs in the Avon and Somerset police area with Northamptonshire close behind at 4.5pc. The UK average however is only 12pc. If cautions and community orders are added with other outcome resolutions such as fixed penalty notices the figure rises to 18pc. Given some of the crime statistics published recently there are those who will feel that this is not such a bad result given that the crime is difficult in many cases to detect because of the anonymity of the internet, especially when used in places like internet cafes and troll centres. The most commonly reported crime was harassment (7097 cases) including trolling which as we know usually has a devastating effect on the victim. Generally police forces accept they have to do better but point out that the published figures include a number of cases still under investigation.
The final word
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) responded to The Sunday Times investigation by saying “The priorities for law enforcement moving forward are to make the UK a hostile place for cyber criminals to target or operate, improve the response to victims and develop capabilities in local forces”. I do not think many in our industry would argue with that.
