Gill German

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir John. I will start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (David Pinto-Duschinsky) for introducing this important debate on an issue that affects so many across the UK. I would like to focus on the real human impact, and the effect that the crime can have on individuals. Fraud is the single commonest crime in England and Wales, making up 40% of all crimes against individuals last year. That includes authorised fraud, where the victim is tricked into paying money into an account controlled by the criminal. Fraud of any kind is traumatic, but authorised fraud is not just a financial crime; it can feel like an emotional and psychological assault. One of its most devastating and insidious forms is romance fraud. Those fraudsters exploit loneliness and trust by building fake relationships and then vanishing with a person’s savings, dignity and sense of security. Victims suffer a double hit: financial loss and emotional betrayal. The real damage is hard to measure, with 69% of fraud victims reporting a mental health impact, and more than a third saying that they have become less trusting of others. Unlike victims of burglary or assault, many fraud victims do not see themselves as victims of crime. They blame themselves. They feel stupid. They are embarrassed. Lloyds bank found that 23% of people who lost money to fraud said that they were unsure whether what happened was even serious enough to report. That tells us something deeply troubling about how fraud is viewed and how society, including Government and enforcement, has downplayed it. It is not a clever ruse or a trick; it is exploitation, and the trauma it leaves behind is real. That is why we must break the stigma around being scammed and take a victim-centred approach that recognises both financial and emotional harm, treating victims of fraud as what they truly are—survivors of an often life-altering crime. Our constituents are not just losing money; they are losing trust, and it is time we fought back, not just with systems, but with the empathy and urgency that will give this crime the attention it deserves.