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Surrey and Sussex police forces have teamed up with the Police Foundation and the University of Portsmouth on a project which seeks to better understand the experiences of fraud victims to help improve the service provided. You can find more information on these organisations at the following websites:
https://www.police-foundation.org.uk/
https://www.port.ac.uk/research/research-groups-and-centres/centre-for-cybercrime-and-economic-crime
This research project has been approved by The University of Portsmouth's Research Ethics Committee (FHSS 2024-005)
Study Background
Fraud is growing rapidly and is now the most common crime type in England and Wales. Victims can suffer considerable impact to their physical and mental health, and in some cases, they can be victimised on multiple occasions. However, there are large gaps in our understanding of the health impact, why some victims are more likely to experience a health impact than others, and how their needs can be met.
The purpose of the study is to improve our understanding of the health impact of fraud on victims, and the current approaches in the police and partner services to identify and support those who experience a health impact. The focus is on the Surrey and Sussex police force areas, but the research is aimed to improve our evidence and understanding in all areas of the UK and help to guide the future delivery of police and other services. This study will lay the groundwork for the development of policies and practices, including clearer and more accountable decisions on what services are provided.
Our approach for doing this research
The research project aims to learn about the impact of fraud on victims’ emotional, mental and physical health, what victims want from the police and other services, and the state of the current services that are available to address this impact.
A key part of this work is to collect the views and experience of recent fraud victims in the Surrey and Sussex police force areas. We are interested to collect information on the experiences of all fraud victims. All contributions will be invaluable to building our understanding in this important area. The short survey will involve answering questions about a recent experience of fraud. It is estimated that the survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete. The survey is entirely voluntary, and we do not need names or any identifying personal details.
As part of this work, the research team will collect evidence from some additional sources to strengthen our conclusions:
If you would like to complete the survey, please click here - NIHR fraud victim survey
Research team contact
If you wish to learn more about this work, the research team would be more than happy to provide more information. The contact details are below:
Dr Michael Skidmore
The Police Foundation, Kemp House, 124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX.
Professor Mark Button
School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, St Georges Building, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 2HY.