Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit prevents £25m of fraud

20th August 2018
The Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU) has prevented £25m of fraud and carried out 84 arrests and interviews under caution in the first half of 2018, new figures have revealed.

The DCPCU, a specialist police unit sponsored by the finance industry, achieved estimated savings of £25m from preventing and disrupting fraud in the first half of the year. This brings the total savings from reduced fraud activity to over £540m since the unit was set up in 2002. 26 fraudsters were convicted between January and June 2018 in cases investigated by the DCPCU. This resulted in 33 years imprisonment for those given custodial sentences.

In this same period, the unit has disrupted seven organised crime groups and recovered 8,651 stolen card numbers. In addition, over £122,000 of compensation was returned to victims following the confiscation of criminal assets by the DCPCU.

Glyn Whittick, Temporary Detective Chief Inspector of the DCPCU, said “The DCPCU continues to successfully target the criminal gangs responsible for fraud and bring them to justice. An estimated £25m of fraud has been prevented and 26 fraudsters have been convicted. This is a testament to the hard work of our officers and staff, who work closely with the banking industry to identify and prosecute fraudsters.”

“Criminal gangs are increasingly sophisticated and taking advantage of new technologies to commit fraud online. But through close cooperation between law enforcement and the industry, we can stay one step ahead and ensure there is no place for fraudsters to hide.”

Katy Worobec, Managing Director of Economic Crime at UK Finance, said “The finance industry continues to take action on all fronts to protect customers from fraud, and supporting the DCPCU provides us with another invaluable weapon in this fight. By working together across the industry, government and law enforcement agencies we can ensure fraudsters are caught and punished. The continued success of the DCPCU is a fantastic example of this kind of collaboration in action.”