Fraud

Romance fraud is a type of crime where a person uses a fake profile to build a friendship or relationship with you for fraudulent, financial gain.

They will spend significant amounts of time talking and engaging with you to gain your trust and create a relationship with you before they ask for money. To help keep yourself safe, you can do the following:

• If using an online dating service, stay on their messenger service to talk until you are confident the person is who they say they are.
• Never send money to someone who you haven't met in person
• Avoid giving away personal details

If you are concerned that a person you are speaking to may not be who they say they are, you can do a reverse image search to find out if the photo they have been using has been taken from someone else. Upload the photo they are using to google image search.

If you think you have been a victim of romance fraud, or you have suspicions of it, you can report it online to Operation Signature at Sussex Police or you can call 101. 

Alternatively you can report suspicions anonymously to Scamalytics who use the information to create a 'blacklist' of scammers and remove them from dating sites.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of romance fraud, you can find further advice and support by contacting the services listed to the right.

It is estimated that at least 84% of fraud reported nationally is cyber-enabled. By using ICT, it allows criminals to target a much bigger audience.

If you have been a victim of a cyber scam or fraud, you can report it to Action Fraud. 

If you have been a victim of cyber fraud and the crime is in progress or it involves a vulnerable victim you should report directly to the police either by calling 101 or 999 (if it's an emergency).

Below are some guides that have been created to help business, organisations and charities to help protect themselves from cyber crime.

The Little Book of Cyber Scams guide has been created by the Metropolitan Police Service to offer advice to individuals and small enterprises on how to stay safe in the cyber world.

The Small Business Guide contains information around the most common cyber attacks. The advice in this guide will help significantly increase your protection from the most common types of cyber-crime.

The Cyber Security Toolkit for Boards helps board members understand cyber security which is central to an organisations health and resilience.

Phishing Attacks: Defending Your Organisation shows how organisations can help defend themselves against malicious emails and other phishing.

Password Policies is key to keeping yourself and your information safe. 

Businesses can also be at risk of fraud, especially online. You can help minimise the risk of this by:

• Implementing robust financial controls
• Storing financial documents securely, shredding them when no longer needed
• Checking bank statements carefully, and reporting anything you do not recognise or find suspicious
• Ensuring your computer software is secure and updated
• Using effective passwords to protect your data

The Cyber Resilience Centre for the South East supports and helps protect small and medium sized enterprises, supply chain businesses and third sector organisations against cyber crime.

They can help provide security awareness training, vulnerability assessments and other guidance around protecting yourself.  

Identity fraud is when someone uses your personal details (such as name, date of birth, addresses) in criminal activity to obtain goods/services by deception. This can include opening new bank accounts, taking out a loan or credit card in your name and ordering goods.

The Home Office has created a checklist to help victims who have experienced identity theft take steps to repair their identity and prevent revictimisation. 

Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams are when someone is convinced to transfer money from their bank account to a scammer. For example, by posing as their bank and asking you to transfer money out to a 'safe account'.

If you have been a victim of a APP scam, contact your bank as soon as it's happened and ask if you can get a refund. 

You can find more information and guidance under the resources tab and 'banking'.

  Get Safe Online - The Get Safe Online website provides unbiased, factual and easy to understand information on online safety. There is also a section on keeping safe while using the internet on a smartphone or tablet.  

 Little Booklet of Phone Scams - This leaflet from Sussex and Surrey Police forces contains practical and useful information to help you identify and avoid scams.  

 Little Book of Big Scams (pages 24 and 24) - This useful booklet from Sussex Police provides information about mobile phone scams on pages 23 & 24 

For further tips, advice and guidance please see your phone providers help pages. You can do this by searching your provider on the internet or clicking the links below. 

 Click here for O2  

 Click here for Virgin  

 Click here for EE  

 Click here for three  

 Click here for Vodafone

 Cyber essentials website - Cyber Essentials is a simple but effective, Government backed scheme that will help you to protect your organisation, whatever its size, against a whole range of the most common cyber attacks.  

 The Little Leaflet of Cyber Advice - This short leaflet from Sussex and Surrey Police forces includes useful tips to protect you from online hacking.

 Cyber essentials website - Cyber Essentials is a simple but effective, Government backed scheme that will help you to protect your organisation, whatever its size, against a whole range of the most common cyber attacks.  

 Cyber security: Small business guide - A handy guide  to help small businesses improve their cyber security  

 Cyber security: Small charity guide - A handy guide to help small charities improve their cyber security  

 Cyber security: Toolkit for boards - A handy guide to help boards to understand cyber security  

 Phishing attacks: Defending your organisation - How to defend your organisation from email phishing attacks  

 Phishing attacks video - A video guide to preventing the damage to your organisation from phishing attacks  

 Get Safe Online - The Get Safe Online website provides unbiased, factual and easy to understand information on online safety. They also have a section on preventing identity theft online.   

 The Little Leaflet of Cyber Advice - This short leaflet from Sussex and Surrey Police forces includes useful tips to protect you from online hacking.

 Passwords- Keep your systems safe - Produced by Sussex Police, this booklet contains information around simple steps that can be taken to create and maintain strong passwords to keep your systems safe.

 Get Safe Online - The Get Safe Online website provides unbiased, factual and easy to understand information on online safety. You'll also find information about how to shop online safely, and what to do if you become a victim of online crime  

 Little Book of Big Scams (page 26) - This helpful booklet from Sussex Police contains information about keeping safe while shopping online on page 26. 

 Safe online payments - Useful information to help you make online payments safely

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex commissions local victim support services and runs the Safe Space Sussex website.

Operation Signature is the force campaign to identify and support vulnerable victims of fraud.

West Sussex County Council have an integral Community Safety and Wellbeing Team, raising online safety awareness amongst communities and professionals across West Sussex.

Neighbourhood Watch aims to prevent crime, reduce the fear of crime and improve safety. 

Arun District Council 

Adur and Worthing Safer Communities Partnership is a multi agency partnership with the shared vision of reducing crime and disorder; working together to make Adur and Worthing a safer place to live, work and visit. 

Horsham District Council

Trading Standards within West Sussex County Council 

Victim Support are a national organisation provided support to victims of crime. In Sussex, they also provide enhanced support to vulnerable victims of fraud.