Action Fraud Cyber Crime prevention

Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime run by the City of London Police working alongside the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.

Action Fraud offer a series of resources to help individuals protect themselves from fraud and cyber crime.

Top tips to keep the cyber criminals out

Fraud and cyber crime are the most common criminal offences in the UK. Analysis of Action Fraud reports showed that 86% of frauds had a cyber element to them. Action Fraud offers a series of simple steps to follow to help prevent cyber crime:

Create a separate password for your email
Create a strong password using three random words
Save passwords in your browser
Turn on two-factor authentication
Update your devices
Turn on back-ups

Reporting fraud and cyber crime

Action Fraud offers a 24 hours online reporting tool which will guide users through simple questions to identify what has happened.

Action Fraud also have a reporting hotline 0300 123 2040 in the event of a live cyber attack.

In the event of a cyber attack, or a related cybersecurity incident, businesses may need to report it to the Information Commissioner's office (ICO). Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules, it is mandatory that firms also report data breaches to the ICO within 72 hours.