A NORTH-EAST MP has welcomed the introduction of a national service aimed at tackling fraud.

New government scheme Action Fraud is already used by two thirds of police forces – including Cleveland Police – as a single point of contact for reports of fraud and internet fraud.

The organisation’s staff are specially trained and can offer valuable advice to victims as to how to avoid suffering from fraud-related crimes.

Stockton South’s Conservative MP James Wharton said: “It is critical that we tackle fraud in the United Kingdom. Not only does it cost £73 billion a year to the UK economy, but I have had constituents contact me who have suffered huge losses through online fraud, sometimes with disastrous consequences. I would encourage people to use this service and report incidents as too often online fraud goes unreported.”

“I applaud the Government on this effort to reduce fraud and ensure that in future members of the public are aware of the tell-tale signs of fraud. At the same time I think it is right that conventional police forces deal with fraud when the victim is vulnerable, or the crime is taking place at the time of the report.”