Welcome to our Online fraud research hub, bringing together different strands of research to promote and disseminate key information and findings as each project develops. Find out more about our projects linked in the sidebar, or sign up to the newsletter to receive project updates, invitations to events and other news.
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The volume of fraud has grown exponentially in the last 10 to 15 years and is the most pervasive crime in the UK. The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates there were 4.5 million fraud offences in 2021-22. Businesses also report endemic levels of fraud or attempted fraud. The integration of online technology across all aspects of our lives has created abundant opportunities to perpetrate fraud. Online fraud involves harms, vulnerabilities and investigations that are rooted in online spaces, and offending that seamlessly crosses geographic borders. In this way it confounds our existing institutions and systems for controlling crime and maintaining order.
The Dawes Trust has funded a new research programme to help improve our understanding of these crimes and inform future policymaking. The programme includes new research projects from the Police Foundation, Crest Advisory, Birkbeck University, University College London, and Perpetuity Research in partnership with the University of Portsmouth.