A specialist police unit in the United Kingdom that targets organised criminal gangs behind fraud prevented a record £101 million from being stolen in 2021, the highest amount in the unit’s 20-year history. Officers from the City of London Police and Metropolitan Police Service, as well as colleagues from UK Finance, make up the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), which is funded by the banking and finance industry.
Investigations by the DCPCU in 2021 led to the arrest of 123 suspected criminals and 41 disruptions against 23 organised criminal gangs. 83 criminals were convicted following successful DCPCU operations. The unit also seized over £1.2 million of assets. The unit saw the successful sentencing of an individual who sent out thousands of scam texts claiming to be from the NHS which harvested people’s personal and financial details by offering a Covid vaccination. Other successful operations by the unit include the jailing of a criminal who committed over £940,000 of fraud through harvesting customers’ details online and via mail theft.
Detective Chief Inspector Gary Robinson, the head of the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), said: “The DCPCU is working tirelessly to disrupt the organised criminal gangs behind fraud and protect the public. Our close partnerships with the banking and finance industry and other partners including mobile phone companies and the Crown Prosecution Service have been instrumental in bringing them to justice.”
