MP challenges Home Secretary to give Cumbria Police more resources to tackle online fraud

On the floor of the House of Commons this afternoon, MP Tim Farron asked the Home Secretary Suella Braverman to give Cumbria Police the resources to tackle the soaring rate of online and telephone scams.

Speaking during Home Office Questions in Parliament, Tim said: “The Home Secretary talks about tackling online and telephone scams, and she is right to do so.

“We've seen Age UK recently come out with research to show that 43% of people aged over 65 have been victims of online or telephone scams of some kind.

“Will she talk about how she's going to use that resource and extend the amount of resource that she gives to authorities, police authorities such as those in Cumbria and work with the banks and other outfits to make sure that more people are not victims of this outrageous uptick in the number of scams?

Responding, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “Well, my honourable friend is absolutely right, online crime, fraud has become a grave feature of today's criminality.

“And that's why our forward strategy is all about targeting this emerging threat, whether it's our national fraud squad that I just mentioned or whether it's banning SIM farms or whether it's increasing the specialism on the front lines so that our police forces work with the NCA, work with other agencies, importantly with the tech and banking sectors as well.

“We will be able to prevent online fraud from becoming a reality as well as detecting it and enforcing against it further down the line.”