Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the extent to which local police forces engage directly with victims of fraud in cases involving physical premises and identifiable suspects.

Reports of fraud and cyber crime are made through Report Fraud, the new national fraud reporting service which became operational in December 2025. These reports are assessed centrally and disseminated to local police forces wherever there are viable lines of enquiry, including cases involving identifiable local suspects or physical premises. It is then for the relevant police force to engage directly with victims and implement appropriate safeguarding measures.

Report Fraud is designed to improve the quality of information provided to policing and strengthen communication with victims. Alongside this, the National Fraud Squad is focused on the most serious and complex cases, enabling local forces to give greater attention to cases with a clear local footprint.

Victims can access the Report Fraud Victim Services (formerly the National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit), which delivers a care and support offer for victims of fraud and cyber crime where their cases have not been disseminated for investigation. Any victims assessed to be in the highest tier of vulnerability will be disseminated to local forces for safeguarding purposes, so they can receive the appropriate in-person support.