THE Government has announced plans to stop fraudsters with 400 investigators and a new national centre to tackle what has become the country’s leading crime.
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat told GB News: “We’re making sure that we stop those sort of cold calls and those spoof text messages that pretend to be from somebody else, that’s the first thing.
“The second thing we’re doing is we’re making sure there’s more ability for the police to pursue fraudsters and that’s where the national fraud squad with 400 new investigators and a new national fraud intelligence unit comes in. That’s a huge development.
“The third thing we’re doing is we’re helping to inform people about the kind of attacks that may come to them. The kind of text messages, the kind of emails that they could get, that might convince them to click on a link or to hand over money that they really shouldn’t.”
In a discussion with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, he continued: “We’ve set aside £400 million pounds to deal with economic crime and I think that’s really important. £100 million of that is going into these new national fraud squad investigators and of course, we’ve increased the policing priority to make sure other police forces or police forces around the United Kingdom are focusing on it as well.
“We’re also setting aside £30 million to make sure it actually does what it should do, which is tracking frauds and making sure that we connect victims with the police and making sure we keep victims up to date.”
Asked about yesterday’s security alert at Buckingham Palace, he said: “This is a wonderful moment for the whole of the United Kingdom, if you are a royalist this is a chance to celebrate our new king and if you’re not well look, it’s a chance to get together with the community and celebrate the UK.
“We are working with intelligence agencies and police forces across the country and I can tell you this has been months in the planning and many people are working 24/7 to make sure we deliver what we need to see which is a safe a secure moment of national celebration, showcasing Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the whole world.”
