Following the Government’s guidance that businesses work from home, reports of cybercrime have increased exponentially with criminals targeting staff working remotely through fraud, phishing and cyberattacks. With businesses reluctant to return to the office cybercrime will continue to grow.
According, to the Office of National Statistics fraud and cybercrime represent almost half of all crime in the UK.
Phishing Scams | Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team
With society and businesses at their most vulnerable cyber criminals have sought to exploit the new “normal” with phishing scams more targeted and sophisticated than ever before.
There have been Covid-19 themed phishing emails in an effort to steal personal and sensitive information. These have included fake articles about the virus, investment schemes, emails purporting to be from the World Health Organisation (WHO) or HMRC, with society more susceptible to these scams through fears for their health and finances.
Major law enforcement agencies such as the National Crime Agency, Europol and Interpol continue to investigate cybercrime:
“Cybercriminals are attacking the computer networks and systems of individuals, businesses and even global organisations at a time when cyber defences might be lowered due to the shift of focus to the health crisis.”
UK citizens are two and half times more likely to experience fraud and cybercrime than any other crime.
Most recently, the National Crime Agency arrested a Birmingham resident for selling fake Covid-19 testing kits on the Dark Web. Matt Horne, Deputy Director of Investigations at the National Crime Agency commented:
“Anyone thinking of trying to profit from the public’s fears about the pandemic should take note of this arrest. Bringing offenders to justice and ceasing their activities is a key priority across law enforcement, the NCA will target criminals who pose a risk to our collective effort to tackle the pandemic”.
Rosenblatt can help
Rosenblatt has a wealth of experience in financial and cybercrime and is uniquely placed to support clients facing allegations of this nature from the investigatory stage to trial.
If you are a victim of cybercrime, Rosenblatt’s Private Prosecution team can assist in seeking justice before the criminal courts.
Private Prosecutions | Cybercrime | Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team
Reports of Cybercrime are made on a daily basis to agencies such as Action Fraud. However, with limited resources to investigate crimes of this complex nature these reports are often not escalated to the Police. We are happy to advise on privately prosecuting the cybercriminal, as a suitable alternative.
