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<p>The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.</p><p><strong>Professor Sir Ian Diamond</strong>
| National Statistician</p><p>Rt Hon. the Lord Robathan</p><p>House of Lords</p><p>London</p><p>SW1A
0PW</p><p> </p><p>25 October 2019</p><p>Dear Lord Robathan,</p><p> </p><p>As National
Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority I am responding to
your Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of the level of online
fraud in each year from 2015 to 2019; whether that level increased and if so, how
any increase compares to the number of other reported crimes <strong>(HL361)</strong>.</p><p>The
Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes figures on crime in England and Wales
based on two main data sources: Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police
recorded crime. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is face-to-face victimisation
survey in which people resident in households in England and Wales are asked about
their experiences of a range of crimes, including fraud, in the 12 months prior to
interview. Police recorded crime data for fraud offences incorporates information
collated by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB).</p><p>The CSEW provides
the best measure of fraud offences directly experienced by individuals in England
and Wales. Online fraud are cases when the internet or any type of online activity
was related to any aspect of the offence. Comparable data for this offence are only
available from 2016 as victimisation questions on fraud are relatively new to the
survey[1].</p><p>Table 1 sets out incidents of fraud and online fraud measured by
CSEW from the year ending March 2017 to March 2019. There has been a 16% rise in online
fraud (to 3.4 million offences) in the last year. However, the latest figure is at
a similar level to that seen in the year ending March 2017. All CSEW crime excluding
fraud and computer misuse showed no change over this period, despite some apparent
fluctuation over the last two years.</p><p>The ONS also publishes quarterly data on
individual crime types covering England and Wales with associated Appendix Tables[2]</p><p>Yours
sincerely,</p><p>Professor Sir Ian Diamond</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: Incidents
of fraud and online fraud, year ending March 2017 to March 2019 CSEW<strong>[3]</strong><strong>[4]</strong></strong></p><p>
</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>England and Wales</strong></p></td><td
colspan="2"><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>
</strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td colspan="6"><p><strong> </strong>
<strong> </strong> <strong> </strong> <strong>Adults aged 16 and over</strong></p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="6"><p>April 2018 to March 2019 compared with:</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Offence group[1]</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Apr '16 to Mar
'17</p></td><td><p>Apr '17 to Mar '18</p></td><td><p>Apr '18 to Mar '19</p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td colspan="3"><p>Apr '16 to Mar '17</p></td><td colspan="3"><p>Apr '17
to Mar '18</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Number of incidents
(thousands)</p></td><td colspan="4"><p> </p></td><td colspan="6"><p>Percentage change
and significance</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Fraud</strong></p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,395</p></td><td><p>3,255</p></td><td><p>3,809</p></td><td><p><strong>
</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>12</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>*</strong></p></td><td
colspan="3"><p><strong> 17 *</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Online
Fraud[2]</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>1,916</p></td><td><p>1,756</p></td><td><p>2,043</p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>16</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>*</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>
</p></td><td colspan="2"><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p> </p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Unweighted base</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>17,171</p></td><td><p>25,725</p></td><td><p>34,163</p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>
</strong></p></td><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p> </p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br> [1] See Section 5 of the User Guide for more information
about the crime types included in this table. [2] Online Fraud represents fraud cases
that were flagged as cyber because the internet or any type of online activity was
related to any aspect of the offence.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br>Source:
<em>Crime Survey for England and Wales, Office for National Statistics</em></p><p>[1]
The victimisation questions on fraud and computer misuse were incorporated into the
CSEW from October 2015. Up to September 2017 the questions were asked of half the
survey sample. From October 2017 onwards the questions are being asked of a full survey
sample.</p><p>[2]<a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingjune2019"
target="_blank">https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingjune2019</a></p><p>[3]
New victimisation questions on fraud and computer misuse were incorporated into the
CSEW from October 2015. Up to September 2017 the questions were asked of half the
survey sample. From October 2017 onwards the questions are being asked of a full survey
sample.</p><p>[4] In March 2018 the new CSEW estimates on fraud and computer misuse
were assessed by the Office for Statistics Regulation against the Code of Practice
for Statistics and were awarded National Statistics status.</p><p>[5] See Section
5 of the User Guide for more information about the crime types included in this table.</p><p>[6]
Online Fraud represents fraud cases that were flagged as cyber because the internet
or any type of online activity was related to any aspect of the offence.</p><p> </p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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