Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden, welcomes the launch of the Government’s new ‘Stop! Think Fraud’ campaign, which raises public awareness on fraud safety advice in partnership with law enforcement, tech, banking, telecoms and third sector organisations with tough new anti-fraud messaging.
Official data shows that the number of fraud and computer misuse incidents in Sussex had fallen from 9,886 incidents to 8,809 incidents in the last year, a drop of nearly 11 per cent, showing the Government’s long-term plan to stop fraud is working.
This new campaign builds on the Government’s long-term Fraud Strategy set out by the Home Office in May 2023, intending to cut fraud by ten per cent by the end of this Parliament. Since 2019, the Government has implemented a whole range of long-term reforms to tackle fraud by creating new national fraud squad with over 400 new investigators, banning SIM farms which are used by criminals to send thousands of scam texts and stopping cold calls for financial products so people cannot be duped by scammers.
The Government has also signed the world’s first Online Fraud Charter, delivering tough long-term action against fraud in partnership with 12 leading tech companies including Amazon, Facebook, Google and X (formerly Twitter).
For a number of years, Nusrat has been championing the campaign to raise awareness of the impact of fraud, particularly amongst the elderly, including during her time as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ageing and Older People. She continues working closely with Sussex Police on raising awareness about the issue in Wealden, to prevent incidents of fraud and scams.
Nusrat Ghani said: “Anyone can be a victim of fraud, and I continue working closely with Sussex Police on raising awareness of this crime in Wealden. Having met with victims of fraud, I know that one of the problems we face in tackling scams is that many are embarrassed about coming forward. I encourage victims to come forward, so we can better prevent similar incidents happening in the future. It’s great news that the number of fraud and computer misuse incidents across Sussex have fallen by nearly 11 per cent in the last year and I welcome the new ‘Stop! Think Fraud’ campaign that will build on the progress already made by the Government in raising public awareness on fraud safety.”
