CPA Bulletin

24 CPA Bulletin > November 2021 www.cpa.uk.net PLANT THEFT PLANT THEFT: 1 The National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) new website reporting tool allows people to send them a link from websites which they think are trying to scam the public, regardless of how they got to the site. The NCSC - which is a part of GCHQ - then analyses the site, and if the contents found there are malicious, a notice may be issued to the hosting provider for the site to be removed, preventing members of the public falling victim in future. The NCSC has previously highlighted the problem of scam websites, including fake news pages where celebrities such as Sir Richard Branson appear to be endorsing investment schemes. Links to these pages were subsequently removed by the NCSC. The website reporting tool is the latest way in which the public can help the NCSC counter online scams. Last year, the NCSC created the pioneering Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) where the public can forward suspected scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk If the emails are found to contain links to malicious websites, they will then be taken down by the service, which has received more than 6.5 million reports of malicious emails and resulted in the takedown of 50,500 online scams since its launch in April 2020. Reporting Frauds to the National Cyber Security Centre Operation Opal Unit The Operation Opal (now called Opal ACE) unit based at the HQ for West Mercia constabulary was officially launched on 1st July. Their focus is on Organised, Serious and Acquisitive Crime. The CPA was contacted by the Opal ACE unit to discuss the scale of theft and fraud in the plant-hire sector; and to help them understand the scale of the problem. They were sent over a summary of thefts and frauds received from members between January 2020 to July 2021. A meeting was convened in early September, where representatives from the unit, together with those from industry and insurance sectors discussed current issues; and acknowledged the need to provide the unit with any information which could be used to help disrupt criminal activities and apprehend perpetrators. The unit agreed to periodically circulate information to industry. Opal ACE Summary Report The review of the theft of road registered plant machinery recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC) shows a continued downward trend of theft of plant and agricultural machinery during Q1 of 2021/22. Offences decreased sharply as a result of the global pandemic with a 30% reduction during 2020 (2,068) when compared with 2019 (2,930). Offences have continued to decline during 2021 with the Q1 figures indicating the lowest quarterly offences for a number of years. It is likely that international travel restrictions have assisted with the prevention of crime as export of machinery is a key method of disposal. Data extracted from the PNC for the theft of road registered plant machinery highlights a 17% decrease in offending when compared with the previous quarter (292 offences vs 351 offences as of 09/09/2021). It should be noted that the majority of machinery is not road-registered, and these figures provide only a limited estimate of criminality. Offences remain considerably below the volumes experienced prior to the COVID pandemic. It is likely that limited export opportunities or the lower movement volume through key nexus points are restricting the criminality. The theft of GPS devices from agricultural machinery has been noted as an escalating issue across the UK. Through Operation Walrus, OPAL have been made aware of more than 50 offences since April 2021, with an estimated loss value in excess of £3 million. Offences have increased to the extent that the loss value is now believed to exceed that recorded for theft of ATV’s. OPAL continues to operate Operation Walrus which maintains a national overview and proactive work is ongoing to target offenders and disrupt criminality.