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'Lack of faith' means crime figures may not be accurate

Published on 4 Aug 2009 under category: legal

A "lack of faith in the British justice system" could mean that statistics for fraud crimes against businesses may not be completely accurate, it has been claimed.

According to a spokesperson for the Federation of Small Businesses, many firms feel that they do not receive an adequate response from police when they report incidents.

He said that crimes against businesses make up the "forgotten fifth of all recorded crime".

The spokesperson explained that small firms lose an average of £13,500 each year due to crime, with around £800 of this due to fraud and online misdemeanors, while companies can also fall victim to vandalism and attacks on staff.

He added: "Businesses trading online also have the risk of ID fraud and internet crime such as phishing scams."

The British Chambers of Commerce recently released figures which showed nearly 350,000 offences against business can be identified from crimes recorded by the police in 2008-09.