The Effects of Fraud on People and the Community

Fraud is consistently the largest reported crime type in England and Wales. It affects millions of innocent individuals and businesses each year, undermines public trust, and poses a growing threat to our national security and economic resilience. (gov.co.uk).

Fraud poses significant risks to both individuals and businesses. Victims suffer financial loss and emotional distress, often facing long-term consequences. Businesses experience revenue loss, reputational damage, and increased operational costs. Longer-term, fraud erodes trust, damaging our national financial stability and economic growth.

Fraud grooming is a psychological manipulation process where a criminal builds a fake relationship of trust and emotional dependency with a victim over weeks or months. This set up is used particularly when dealing with charity or community groups. Gaining confidence to be placed in a position of trust where access to cash is available. This is common place within charity groups and community organisations such as working men’s clubs like ours and is exactly what came about at The Knowl.  It’s not just The Knowl it’s happened in but happens to many clubs in many communities as per my last update. 

We need the police to take this type of fraud seriously. We  also need them to give it the attention it deserves. We need a dedicated department for financial crime. A designated officer who is competent in this type of investigation in all cases.  We need the investigation to be completed in a reasonable amount of time. We also need to stress the importance of regular updates during investigations. 

LETS BRING ABOUT CHANGE!