Will the future policing of fraud be ‘a fundamental shift in our approach to tackling fraud’ or largely more of the same? Reviewing the 2023 UK fraud strategy through evidence on the ground

Abstract In 2023, the UK government issued a national Fraud Strategy in response to concerns over increases in reported fraud and the low levels of law enforcement resource available to investigate cases. The Strategy was announced as a fundamental shift in how the government intended to respond to frauds and attempted frauds against individuals. The article focusses on the evidence base that may be assumed to underpin and shape any strategy by assessing and analysing the data what would have been available at the time the Strategy was drafted. The article argues that the Strategy has not taken any time to explore past strategies and any lessons to be learned and nor did it appear to substantively accessed, used, analysed and interpreted the available data, and nor used that data as an evidence base to develop an approach will have to be strategic, prioritised and innovative. The article concludes that, in strategic terms, the Strategy may be unlikely to achieve its objectives.