Question reference: S5W-35372
- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 19 February 2021
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the extent to which people are victims of online fraud.
Answer
There are challenges in seeking to assess the extent to which people in Scotland are victims of online fraud. As with other types of crime, not all cases are reported to the police, whilst the term ‘online fraud’ can potentially encompass a wide range of incident types.
A series of questions on cyber fraud were first included in the 2018-19 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, marking an important step in developing the evidence base on cyber-related crime in Scotland. Findings suggested that 4.8% of internet users had their online account accessed for fraudulent purposes in the 12 months prior to interview, whilst 4.5% had their card/bank account details stolen online. In relation to scams specifically, 4.5% of internet users said they had been a victim of a scam email, and 4.1% reported having been a victim of a scam phone call in the previous 12 months. The majority of victims of most types of cyber fraud and computer misuse did not report the incident to the authorities (for example the police, bank/credit card company and website/app administrator). When the crime was reported, only a small proportion of victims reported them to the police. Updated analysis will be published in the 2019/20 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey report on 16 March 2021.
Looking at a separate analysis of police recorded crime, a study within the 2018-19 National Statistics suggested that 28% of recorded frauds were cyber enabled (i.e. the internet was used as a means to commit the crime). This equated to around 2,690 crimes. The average age of a victim was 47 years old, which was similar to where cases weren’t cyber enabled (49 years old). Males and females were equally likely to be the victim of cyber enabled fraud (accounting for 50% of cases each). Further details from this study are available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2018-19/ . Updated analysis on the estimated proportion of recorded fraud that is cyber enabled will be published in the 2020/21 recorded crime National Statistics in September 2021.