Rise in incidents of fraud in Forth Valley

There has been a rise in incidents of fraud in Forth Valley, new information reveals.
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Data published by police reveals there was a rise of more than 50 per cent in the number of fraud attempts made between April and June in the region compared to the same period last year.

In total, 250 frauds were recorded, whereas there were 118 incidents in April, May and June in 2019.

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The escalation in the number of fraud incidents within Forth Valley comes as Police Scotland confirmed a national rise in such crimes.

Police have reported a big rise in the number of incidents of fraud committed in Forth Valley.Police have reported a big rise in the number of incidents of fraud committed in Forth Valley.
Police have reported a big rise in the number of incidents of fraud committed in Forth Valley.

However, while some areas have seen this rise coincide with a decrease or consistent level of detection by police, Forth Valley has increased solvency from 48 to 58, meaning ten additional reports were sent to the procurator fiscal.

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Another area that has seen a large rise in reported crime is anti-social behaviour, which has gone up by almost 52 per cent. In total, 8341 incidents were recorded, compared with the 5453 last year.

Analysis of this rise continues, however, many of the new reports received are linked to calls from the public over suspected breaches of Covid-19 regulations.

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The force also wants the public to know officers are committed to preserving wildlife across the region and are actively targeting wildlife crime offenders.

During the first quarter of 2020, there were 25 wildlife crimes, up by 16 from that period in 2019.

All but one of these further offences came as a result of a single incident of hare coursing in Stirlingshire at the end of April.

Chief Superintendent Alan Gibson, Divisional Commander for Forth Valley, said: “This information was recorded during an unprecedented time for all of us due to coronavirus and we must resist the urge to make swift conclusions about crime trends.

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“The public in Falkirk, Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire can rest assured that local officers will continue to work tirelessly to address any and all reports of criminal activity.

“Likewise, a range of specialist national resources can and will be utilised to address Scotland-wide issues impacting upon our division, for instance, fraud.

“Confidence in policing has risen and we are committed to building on this confidence further by effective and engaging police action.”

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