Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 27
Prioritise fraud victim support for most vulnerable; train responders to identify needs.
Conclusion
Fraud crimes do not impact victims equally and due to limitations in victim support capacity, efforts to support victims of fraud should be focused on those who need it most. It is therefore vital that responders to these crimes have the training and experience required to identify who may need further support and can direct them to services which can provide this aid.
Government Response Summary
The government committed to improving call centre capacity with new suppliers, launching a new reporting tool and website next year, and implementing automated SMS and a chatbot to ease reporting, but did not specify how support would be targeted to the most vulnerable.
Paragraph Reference:
27
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
It is important to ensure that victims get through to call centres as quickly as possible, and this is one of the key improvements we are working towards. This may require more staff, or it may require better use of technology. We will work to ensure there is sufficient capacity with the new commercial suppliers once appointed. In the meantime, we will be launching a new reporting tool and website next year. This tool will improve the ease and timeliness of the reporting experience, as well as offering simpler pathways to access further support and guidance. To complement this, a new automated SMS feature will send victims waiting in a call queue a direct link to the new website as an alternative reporting option and a new chat bot has been developed for the website to handle greater volumes of reports. Action Fraud 1.4