Cybercrime in Scotland is doubling each year as criminals use technology to dupe unsuspecting victims out of millions of pounds.
In a world where business, socialising and communication is increasingly conducted online, police are seeing a huge rise in financial scams committed by crooks hiding behind screens.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal that last year 17,000 online frauds were detected and investigated and such cyber scams account for 95 per cent of all fraud cases police deal with.
Now, in a massive push to crack down on the issue, a specialist cyber fraud centre is to open at the Scottish Crime Campus in April.
The officer leading Police Scotland’s response to the growing threat has laid bare the extent of the swindles and cruel deceptions taking place.
Embezzler Emma Hunt was jailed and Assistant Chief Constable Andy Freeburn is determined to target crooks who fleece people and businesses
It comes as this newspaper reveals the heartbreaking story of a 16-year-old who took his own life after online blackmailers tricked him into sending intimate pictures and then threatened to share them if he didn’t meet their demands.
In an exclusive interview, Assistant Chief Constable Andy Freeburn, executive lead for Organised Crime, Counter Terrorism and Intelligence, said: ‘Cybercrime has increased exponentially from around 2018, almost doubling year on year.
‘We know around 17,000 online frauds are committed each year in Scotland – or around 50 each day – and according to our own figures 95 per cent of all frauds have an online element and it is now synonymous with cybercrime.
‘Behind every one of these frauds there is a victim of crime. They may have lost their savings, their business and indeed their very confidence of going online.’
Mr Freeburn said a common scam sees the victim being contacted by someone claiming to be from their bank or financial institution alerting them to some suspicious or fraudulent account activity which needs verified with a call back.
He added: ‘They then provide a number to call back on for security reasons. They then ask the person to withdraw money and pass this to a third party for safety, often saying it is as part of an inquiry.’
Businesses are also susceptible to sophisticated computerised scams, sometimes from rogue employees with access to their online systems.
Last year office manager Emma Hunt, from Coldstream in Berwickshire, was jailed for three years for embezzling £899,164 to spend on lavish parties, cars, designer goods and a five-star Caribbean holiday.
She fraudulently obtained money from a property business and some of its clients between May 31, 2016 and January 20, 2019.
As part of her scam she created false invoices for large sums for ‘supplies’ and ‘business expenses’, which she transferred online into her own personal bank accounts.
Police Scotland is now work alongside other bodies including HMRC, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and British Transport Police as part of a ‘multi-agency’ approach to target cyber criminals.
Ten years ago an £82 million state-of-the-art facility was opened in Gartcosh, Lanarkshire, with forensic laboratories and support facilities specifically designed to tackle serious organised crime.
A decade on, the campus is busier than ever with new techniques and technologies being deployed to detect and prevent crime.
Mr Freeburn said: ‘The Scottish Crime Campus is a critical asset. It’s the joint location of Police Scotland and key partner organisations.
‘Building on this success, we are launching a Cyber and Fraud Centre where partners will be co-located and tasked with tackling the risk posed by cyber and fraud.
‘This will allow for new standards to be set in intelligence sharing, planning, evidence gathering and enforcement through our combined efforts, expertise and resources.’
He added: ‘We are exploring new technologies and capabilities and are investing in additional crypto currency tools.’
Police Scotland will also look to work more closely with other forces in the UK.
Until now, national reporting centre Action Fraud has not dealt with fraud and cybercrime in Scotland. But that is set to change.
Mr Freeburn said: ‘We saw a massive rise during Covid when people were spending more time online. We are currently reviewing our approach to tackling fraud.
‘This includes the consideration to join a service that will replace Action Fraud. This is to deliver a next generation service for fraud and cybercrime reporting as part of our ambition to creating a fully integrated Law Enforcement Model to tackle cybercrime.’
Mr Freeburn now has more than 1,000 dedicated officers under him working hard to ‘detect and disturb’ gangs, prevent cybercrime and bring criminals to justice, but he admits even more needs to be done.
Recent operations by his staff have led to concrete outcomes.
Six men and one woman were arrested and charged in connection with an alleged high-value fraud, following a joint operation with policing partners in England in December 2023 as part of an ongoing investigation into an elderly woman in Lanarkshire who had a seven-figure sum stolen last year.
This month an 18-year-old man was charged in connection with a series of alleged frauds in Dunbartonshire and Glasgow.
It came after officers received reports of people being contacted by phone by a person claiming to be a police officer from Glasgow.
Mr Freeburn said: ‘We want the public to know that we are working hard and are going to continue to try to be responsive to the threat but we also continue to need the public’s support and for them to be vigilant.’
