Scotland and Northern Ireland are most at risk from e-crime and
fraud, says the Federation of
Small Business.
In a
survey of crime against businesses by Glamorgan University and
published late last year, the FSB found that small businesses are
losing more than £1000 a month on average to criminals.
"Credit card fraud (33.4%), e-crime (30.2%) and identity fraud
(29.9%) were most prevalent in Scotland," the FSB said. Northern
Ireland showed high levels of employee fraud (30.3%), employee
theft (32.9%) and cheque fraud (36.8%), it said.
The average cost of crime to businesses in Northern Ireland was
£76,715, while in Scotland the average was £41,255. The national
average was £13,354, the FSB said.
In the past two years, one in four companies had been hit by
e-crime, identity fraud, arson and assault, the FSB said.
The FSB said, "Many (business) owners do not consider that the
criminal justice system is achieving positive results. The view
that (government-sponsored)
Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships is actually assisting
in crime reduction is fairly rare across all sectors."
Two-thirds were not aware of neighbourhood policing units
(NPUs), and less than 4% had regular contact with their NPU, it
said. Owners had more confidence in Business Watch and Shop Watch
schemes as crime deterrants, it said.