APACS: Impressive year for unique police unit

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Wednesday, 13, Feb 2008 12:00

Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit achieves estimated fraud savings in excess of £100 million in just one year

The Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU) – the special police unit that tackles cheque and card fraud criminals – was responsible for £107 million in estimated fraud savings in 2007, new figures released today show. This compares with savings of £130 million achieved in the five years following the Unit’s launch in 2002.

The DCPCU is fully sponsored by the banking industry through APACS and has an ongoing brief to help stamp out organised card and cheque fraud across the UK. It is a unique body that comprises officers from the Metropolitan and City of London police forces who work alongside banking industry fraud investigators.

This huge boost in annual performance reflects a significant increase in the numbers of counterfeit cards and card details recovered by the Unit. Their work disrupted 421 organised crime networks, leading to the recovery of:

• 103,000 compromised card details;

• 16,500 counterfeit cards; and

• 7,000 fraudulent cheques

Perhaps most importantly, the Unit’s work led to a very high rate of conviction - 94 per cent - for the perpetrators of these frauds.

Detective Chief Inspector John Folan, who heads up the Unit, said: “Our ongoing work with the banking industry and other police forces throughout the UK is clearly having a positive effect. The successes of the past year are a clear message to the organised criminal gangs in the UK that we will continue to target them and frustrate their fraudulent activity.”

Katy Worobec, head of fraud control at APACS said: “Fighting fraud is a shared responsibility and our continued funding of the DCPCU is another clear indication of the banks’ ongoing commitment to tackle card crime. The Unit’s achievements are testament to how a public/private partnership can work together, clearly demonstrating the worth of this unique collaboration.”

ENDS

For further information contact the APACS Press Office:

T: Mark Bowerman 020 7711 6251 / Michelle Meyer 020 7711 6316

E: press@apacs.org.uk

Notes to editors:

1 APACS is the trade body that gives banks, building societies and card issuers a forum where they can work together on non-competitive issues. We help manage the way that businesses and individuals in the UK move their money around - this covers cash, credit and debit cards, cheques and automated payments such as direct debits, salary payments and online/phone transactions. We lead the fight against banking fraud and twice a year we publish figures on payment industry fraud losses.

2 The DCPCU was launched on 29 April 2002 as a two-year pilot. Following the successful conclusion of this trial, it was established as a permanent Unit – a funding commitment of £3m per year by the banking industry - with an ongoing brief to help stamp out organised card and cheque fraud. Since its inception, the DCPCU has been responsible for more than £230 million in savings from reduced fraud activity and has recovered more than 244,000 counterfeit cards and card numbers. The Unit is jointly resourced, with APACS and its members providing fraud specialists and administrators who work alongside police officers and civilian staff from the City of London and Metropolitan Police.