YP Comment: Time to tackle the fraudsters - financial fraud on the increase

More than a million cases where victims lost money were recorded in the first half of this year – a 53 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2015, according to Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK).

The fact that almost a third of people in Yorkshire believe they will fall victim to financial fraud shows just how deep-rooted this problem has become.

So the news that FFA UK as well as all major banks have signed up to a new campaign to crackdown on financial fraudsters is to be welcomed.

Those behind the campaign say its focus will be on fraudsters who target customers through email deception – known as phishing – and phone and text-based scams.

They also want to protect people from criminals duping them into moving money into bank accounts which are controlled by fraudsters.

Attempts to tackle this kind of fraud are nothing new and earlier this year Theresa May, in her then role as Home Secretary, set up a new taskforce, made up of police, banks and government officials to combat this very problem.

It’s true that members of the public need to be careful who they give their bank details and other personal information to, but at the same time more has to be done to protect those who are less technologically savvy as they are often the ones who fall victim to these unscrupulous con artists.

One of the sickening aspects of these callous crimes is they prey on people’s trusting nature, with fraudsters sometimes posing as police officers or bank officials.

Financial fraud remains one of the biggest problems we face in our modern digital age, often having a devastating impact on its victims, and it is one that we must all fight together.

Political recovery - Lib Dems must seize initiative

It has been a torrid time for the Liberal Democrats. Less than 18 months ago they were junior partners in a coalition government that survived, against all the odds, for its full five years. But while the Conservatives were voted back into office at last year’s general election, the Lib Dems were trounced at the ballot box and left with just eight MPs.

In June this year they appeared to hit a new low when their pro-Europe stance was roundly rejected by the British public as the nation voted in favour of Brexit. At that point the party appeared to be sailing towards political obscurity.

But while they lost the argument over Europe, it has provided the Lib Dems with an unexepected boost. As an unashamedly pro-European party, they have attracted new members from disillusioned Remain voters and were buoyed by victory in the recent Mosborough ward by-election in Sheffield where they enjoyed a 19 per cent swing from Labour.

It is a surprising turnaround in the party’s fortunes and leader Tim Farron will want to harness these green shoots of recovery when he takes the platform at the Lib Dem conference later today.

A return to the heady days when they had more than 50 MPs and control of city councils across the North remains a long way off, but with British politics in a profound state of flux, and the Labour Party riven by bitter disagreements, the Lib Dems have emerged as an unlikely beacon of stability.

However, if the party wants to re-establish itself as a serious political force, rather than being seen as little more than a protest vote, it must grasp this opportunity with both hands.

Brotherly love

The sight of Alistair and Jonny Brownlee collapsed in a heap at the finishing line having just finished won gold and silver in the triathlon was one of the defining images of the Rio Olympics.

But just a few weeks later these indomitable Leeds brothers-in-arms once again captured the spirit of sport when Alistair dramatically helped his exhausted brother over the finish line at the World Triathlon series finale in Mexico.

Jonny, who had looked on course to claim the overall world title before the heat took its toll, recovered after receiving treatment, and his older brother played down his intervention saying: “It was a natural human reaction to my brother but for anyone I would have done the same thing.”

Ever the Yorkshireman, though, Alistair wasn’t entirely sympathetic, with the two-time Olympic champion adding: “I wish the flipping idiot had just paced it right and won the race. He could have jogged the last 2km.”