Erewash MP welcomes the Government’s new long-term ‘Stop! Think Fraud’ campaign

MP for Erewash, Maggie Throup OBE has welcomed the Government’s new long-term ‘Stop! Think Fraud’ campaign, delivering tough new anti-fraud messaging, raising public awareness on fraud safety advice in partnership with law enforcement, tech, banking, telecoms and third sector organisations. 

This new campaign builds on a long-term Fraud Strategy set out by the Home Office in May 2023, committing to 52 ambitious actions to cut fraud by ten per cent by the end of this Parliament. Since the plan was introduced, fraud and computer misuse has fallen by 13 per cent in the last year according to the latest data from the Crime Survey of England and Wales. 

Official data shows that the number of fraud and computer misuse incidents in Derbyshire had fallen from 4,928 incidents to 4,631 incidents in the last year, a drop of 6 per cent, showing the Government’s long-term plan to stop fraud is working.

Maggie said: “Fraud ruins lives. The criminals behind it target people online, in person and in their homes, often manipulating their victims before stealing money and personal data. 

“I welcome the progress the Government has made by reducing fraud in Derbyshire by 6 per cent within the last year. The Government’s new Stop! Think Fraud campaign will build on this excellent progress as well as raise public awareness on fraud safety. 

“I urge every Erewash resident to stop, take a moment to think about fraud, and share this message. By staying vigilant and always taking a moment to stop, think and check, we can help protect ourselves and each other from fraud.”

Since 2019, the Government has implemented a whole range of long-term reforms to tackle fraud by creating new national fraud squad with over 400 new investigators, banning SIM farms which are used by criminals to send thousands of scam texts and stopping cold calls for financial products so people cannot be duped by scammers. 

The Government has also signed the world’s first Online Fraud Charter, delivering tough long-term action against fraud in partnership with 12 leading tech companies including on-line shopping and social media firms.