As from 1 April 2007, it is for the financial institutions to decide whether to refer a theft from a bank account using cheque and plastic cards to the police to be recorded.
Each police force now has a single point of contact (SPOC) that the financial institutions respond to, and it is then a matter for individual chief officers to decide whether a crime will be investigated.
Guidance has been issued to the police and financial institutions, and is included in the Home Office Counting Rules for Recorded Crime, this is a public document and is available here and the URL is http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/countrules.html
A set of principles have been prepared, set out below. Where the trader or account holder is the victim (that is, they suffer the financial loss) they can report this to the police, who are required to record this as a crime and not refer them back to the financial institution. Where an account holder contacts the police to report a loss without having first spoken to their financial institution, a crime related incident will be recorded and the account holder will then be referred to their financial institution.
Below are excerpts from the Home Office Counting Rules for Recorded Crime :
Home Office Counting Rules For Recorded Crime April 2008
53C: GENERAL PRINCIPLES
The Financial Institutions will encourage customers (both personal and business) to report cheque, plastic card or online bank account fraud directly to them and not the Police in the first instance. Online bank accounts include telephone bank accounts. Fraud reported to the Financial Institution, will then only be reported to Police if they are satisfied that there is a reasonable chance of a suspect being brought to justice through Police Investigation. However, where Financial Institutions report a crime to Police that does not have a suspect, Police are still required to record a crime under general NCRS principles.
Offences where offenders are arrested by Police or where there is a call for service to Police and the offender “is committing” or has recently committed at the time of the call for service for fraud by false representation in relation to cheque and plastic card fraud will be dealt with as though reported to Police by the Financial Institution concerned.
Account holders reporting at Police Stations:
Account holders attempting to report cheque, plastic card or online bank account fraud offences at police stations will be asked in the first instance if they have been specifically told to do so by their Financial Institution. If they have not they will be told to contact their Financial Institution who will deal with the account holder. It is necessary to record a crime related incident at this point.
If the Financial Institution wishes an account holder to report the crime to the police direct, the Financial Institution will give the account holder a reference number to give to the police – either in the form of a letter or verbally. In this case, the account holder will be asked to report it to their local police station. The police station must then record a crime related incident.
Financial Institutions reporting Cheque, plastic card or online bank account fraud to Police
The Financial Institution wishing to report fraud will give the case or cases to the force area based on the following set of principles. The principles are listed in order of priority and it is only when a principle cannot be achieved or is not known that the next principle will apply :-
1st – The police force area covering the location of the fraudulent operation/suspect’s address.
2nd - The police force area with the greatest number of individual usages.
3rd – The police force area where the first offence was committed.
4th – The police force area where the victim is located.
Reminder: The location of crime rules contained within this section overrule those within General Rules Section G Location of Crime.
EXCEPTIONS TO THE APPLICATION OF THE RULE
Exceptions will only occur where the financial institution has refused to honour the transaction, and are therefore not the financial loser. Where victims contact police to report an offence of fraud where the financial institution are not honouring the transaction, a crime should be recorded and the victim should not be referred to the financial institution.
