42244 1 3 econsultancy_xml <p>The <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld/lduncorr/s&amp;tii210207.pdf">House of Lords Science and Technology Committee on Personal Internet Security</a>, which has been investigating problems related to e-commerce and online fraud, heard evidence from Gareth Griffith, eBay's head of trust and safety in the UK. </p> <p>Griffith mentioned to the committee the statistic, from the government's <a href="/blog/330-internet-crime-feared-more-than-burglary-in-the-uk">Get Safe Online survey</a> back in October, that 17% of UK internet users had been put off using the internet altogether due to bad experiences online. </p> <p>He told the committee that eBay users had complained that the police had refused to investigate some cases where buyers had been defrauded on the auction site.</p> <p>He told the committee: </p> <blockquote> <p> <em>"When we try to get police engaged, sometimes they say, “Look, we’d love to help you. If it is not over ‘x’ threshold” – thousands of pounds, or whatever it is -- “we can’t help you”. "</em> </p> <p> <em>"We ask our community of users to go to their local police stations...what we find is the users coming back to us, saying, “They’re not interested”. It is only a £500 laptop, or whatever the issue might be. So I think that we see frustration on both sides."</em> </p> </blockquote> <p>While it is understandable that the police have to focus their resources on more high-level online crime, the lack of investigation of such cases is hardly likely to improve consumer confidence in shopping online.</p> <p>It makes you wonder exactly how big an issue this is...</p> <p> <a href="mailto:blog@e-consultancy.com">blog@e-consultancy.com</a> </p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph>The <Link URL="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld/lduncorr/s&amp;tii210207.pdf" Window="New">House of Lords Science and Technology Committee on Personal Internet Security</Link>, which has been investigating problems related to e-commerce and online fraud, heard evidence from Gareth Griffith, eBay's head of trust and safety in the UK. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Griffith mentioned to the committee the statistic, from the government's <Link URL="/blog/330-internet-crime-feared-more-than-burglary-in-the-uk" Window="New">Get Safe Online survey</Link> back in October, that 17% of UK internet users had been put off using the internet altogether due to bad experiences online. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>He told the committee that eBay users had complained that the police had refused to investigate some cases where buyers had been defrauded on the auction site.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>He told the committee: </Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>"When we try to get police engaged, sometimes they say, “Look, we’d love to help you. If it is not over ‘x’ threshold” – thousands of pounds, or whatever it is -- “we can’t help you”. "</Quote> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Quote>"We ask our community of users to go to their local police stations...what we find is the users coming back to us, saying, “They’re not interested”. It is only a £500 laptop, or whatever the issue might be. So I think that we see frustration on both sides."</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph>While it is understandable that the police have to focus their resources on more high-level online crime, the lack of investigation of such cases is hardly likely to improve consumer confidence in shopping online.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>It makes you wonder exactly how big an issue this is...</Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Link URL="mailto:blog@e-consultancy.com" Window="New">blog@e-consultancy.com</Link> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> 2007-03-05T13:10:00+00:00 1 1 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>With the high levels of online fraud, the police are unable to investigate every complaint they receive about instances of online crime and, in some cases they are unable to investigate. </strong> </p> <p>Cases where individuals have been defrauded to the amount of a few hundred pounds are being pushed to the back of the queue, as police do not have the resources to cope with the problem. </p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>With the high levels of online fraud, the police are unable to investigate every complaint they receive about instances of online crime and, in some cases they are unable to investigate. </Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Cases where individuals have been defrauded to the amount of a few hundred pounds are being pushed to the back of the queue, as police do not have the resources to cope with the problem. </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> false 892 362794 Police limit online fraud investigations false 2007-03-05T14:11:00+00:00 police-limit-online-fraud-investigations 2009-04-30T02:39:43+01:00 2009-04-30T02:39:43+01:00 382