Police: Fake WannaCry emails demanding payment

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ActionFraud's blog on the 22^nd June 2018 at 14:54 - A Police Blog
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Action Fraud has received almost 300 reports in the past two days about fake WannaCry emails that demand payment from victims in Bitcoins.

The WannaCry emails are designed to cause panic and trick you into believing that your computer is infected with WannaCry ransomware.

In reality the emails are just a phishing exercise to try and extort money. The emails claim that all of your devices were hacked and your files will be deleted unless you pay a fine to the fraudsters in Bitcoin.

Taking advantage

In May last year, WannaCry ransomware hit headlines after the NHS and other organisations globally were infected with the virus.

This isn’t the first time fraudsters have used WannaCry as a way to trick people. Last year we also saw reports from victims who received pop-ups on their computers that claimed they had been infected with WannaCry. The pop-ups asked people to call a phone number that led to Tech-Support scammers.

In the same month, fraudsters also used the global WannaCry ransomware attack as...

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Police: Tense

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policecommander on the 21^st June 2018 at 21:21 - A Police Blog
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Policing Future

Much talk at the moment about the future of policing.

Amongst the headlines and proposals:

New recruitment processes
New entry routes (three of them – and much animated talk about degrees)
New approaches to assessment and professional development
New role profiles
New Licences to Practice
New ideas about pay and reward – including the introduction of Accredited Practitioners
New submissions to the Pay Review Body

And then there are the ever-new challenges of technology, of cross border criminality, of international terrorism – and of the complete unknown. All the while, police officers of the immediate future will be expected to deal with the long term costs to society of short term cuts to frontline services.

But there is a danger that all this talk of ‘policing future’ sidelines the very pressing concerns of ‘policing present’.

Policing Present

It’s been said before, but it bears repeating:

Crime is rising – particularly crime of the most serious kinds
Demand is rising – not least as a consequence of the gaping...

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Police: £22 million lost to rental fraud

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ActionFraud's blog on the 21^st June 2018 at 9:48 - A Police Blog
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Between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2018, 18,645 reports relating to rental fraud were made to Action Fraud.
In the same period, victims reported losing £22,103,940 to rental fraud – an average of £1,396 per victim.
Action Fraud is now warning potential tenants, and students in particular, to spot the signs of rental fraud when searching for a property.

Rental fraud happens when prospective tenants are tricked into paying an upfront fee to rent a property. In reality, the property does not exist, has already been rented out, or has been rented to multiple victims at the same time. Victims will lose the upfront fee they have paid and are not able to rent the property they thought they had secured. In 429 cases, victims reported losing £5,000 or more.

Fraudsters will often make contact with their victims online. The adverts will seem genuine and are often accompanied by photos and contact information. In some cases the victim will view the property in person, but in most cases the payment is made without...

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Police: #DegreeGate

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RetiredAndAngry on the 20^th June 2018 at 10:52 - A Police Blog
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Much has been said already about degree-level entry into the Police Service, and I’m pretty sure that much more will be said in the months and years to come.

I had a ‘conversation’ yesterday with some faceless, nameless Rupert from the College of Policing as I wanted to be clear in my mind exactly what was being introduced.

I’m still a tad unclear as to exactly when the three proscribed routes into the Police Service (at Constable level) will come into play but essentially, taken from the College’s own documentation, they will be:-

Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA): you will be a police constable on a three-year degree apprenticeship programme, therefore you will be paid a salary from your start date. We anticipate that some forces will start the PCDA programme from April 2018, while others will phase it in during 2018/19.
Professionally focused undergraduate degree in policing: you will be on a university programme to achieve a pre-join undergraduate degree in policing, therefore this will be at your own expense....

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Police: Let’s Do The Maths

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Mental Health Cop on the 17^th June 2018 at 16:31 - A Police Blog
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Look back to when I joined the police are you’ll see that crime levels, measured either by police recorded crime or by the British Crime Survey, were much higher – but if you look at statistics on use of s136 of the Mental Health Act, the quality of them has not always been great, but what we do know, is they’ve mainly just increased year on year, from the first proper attempt at detailed stats in 2007, by the IPCC (as they were then called).

2007 = 18,500 detentions under s136, of which 65% were removed to custody.
2017 = 28,271 detentions* under s136, of which 3.5% were removed to custody.

* we know this figure was too low: Devon and Cornwall Police were unable to submit a return and they have historically reported approximately 1,400 to 1,500 uses of the power per year; and we know some forces under-reported their figures, so it’s likely to be at least 30,000.

It will be the autumn of 2018 before we learn the new figures for 2017/18, but it strikes me we’re due to see another rise, potentially this time a...

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Police: Sir Tom Winsor

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RetiredAndAngry on the 15^th June 2018 at 9:40 - A Police Blog
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Who is Sir Tom Winsor? Well, most people know by now that he was the lead author of the infamous Independent Review of Police Officers’ & Staff Remuneration and Conditions, first published in 2011.

The ‘highlights’ include

Tom Winsor provided the government with recommendations as to how a modern police pay structure could be achieved. Changes to pay that would lower police officer starting salaries but allow officers to progress more quickly to higher pay.
A stronger link between pay and skills – in the short term, a £600 allowance for officers who use certain skills (those required for neighbourhood policing, public order, investigation and firearms), and in the longer term, for the highest pays to be limited to those officers who develop, maintain and use professional skills, and who are carrying out roles that require the powers or expertise of a police officer.
A stronger link between pay and performance, with annual pay increase limited to those who have performed satisfactorily or better, and those identified as poor...

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Police: THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE IS SEEKING A TOAD

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The Justice of the Peace on the 14^th June 2018 at 13:53 - A Police Blog
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I consider the following announcement earlier today of considerable significance so I`ve stopped packing the sun cream for a minute or two to copy it below. The toady who is appointed will no more be representative of JPs than a pig is representative of farmers. The person selected will be an arrogant bore seeking another post to justify his/her future CBE. This is just another milestone in the road to the total elimination of JPs from our court system

Expression of Interest: National Leadership Magistrate

14 June 2018 |News|Magistrates

We are now inviting expressions of interest for the role of National Leadership Magistrate (NLM). This is a judicial process being administered by HMCTS.
There is one vacancy, with the successful candidate taking up their position on 1 October 2018.
The closing date for expressions of interest is 6 July 2018
Term length: The NLM will serve a three-year term.
Eligibility: Eligibility criteria and requirements for the role is set out in the...

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Police: Capacity for What?!

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Mental Health Cop on the 13^th June 2018 at 14:49 - A Police Blog
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It’s rearing its head again: whether or not somebody has the ‘capacity’ to be a victim or ‘capacity’ to be a suspect. One thing that promotes a blog post is a conversation with someone who is noticing a particular problem and today’s post is an example of that: an inspector who has been reviewing crime reports and crime recording standards, wondering if sometimes the police are too quick to try to latch on to misunderstood ideas of ‘capacity’, as a quick proxy for whether to record or investigate a crime. I think he’s on to something here, as we’ve seen high-profile examples of this. It also flicks that switch of mine that ‘capacity’ is a legal concept to be discussed when referring to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and someone’s ability to take a particular decision for themselves when they be putting themselves at risk. But it’s not really the thing to do when you’re investigating a crime allegation to ask, “Does he have capacity?”

Let’s just be really clear: it’s a stupid question that...

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Police: More than £3 million lost to ticket fraud in one year prompts a warning from Action Fraud

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ActionFraud's blog on the 13^th June 2018 at 13:48 - A Police Blog
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Between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018, Action Fraud received 6,486 reports of ticket fraud.
In the same period, the total reported losses to victims were £3,344,835; an average of £568 per victim.
With lots of music concerts and sporting events taking place in summer, it is an opportunity for fraudsters to take advantage of unsuspecting fans.

How is this happening?

Earlier this year, Action Fraud warned football fans planning to travel to the World Cup to be cautious when buying tickets or accommodation because the event is likely to be targeted by fraudsters looking to take advantage of unsuspecting fans.

Action Fraud saw a spike in reporting in June 2017, in which 1,072 reports were made. This suggests that fraudsters are taking advantage of people during the peak season for ticketed events.

Fraudsters will pose as a website or agent for a music concert or festival, a sporting contest such as the World Cup, or a live comedian or performer. Victims...

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Police: THIS J.P.`s OUT OF THE OFFICE

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The Justice of the Peace on the 13^th June 2018 at 13:44 - A Police Blog
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Unless there is momentous news concerning magistrates and their courts this blogger will be on holiday for a couple of weeks exchanging the keyboard for the finest humous and kleftiko that Crete can provide. And no doubt a shot or three of Ouzo might come his way.

Τα λέμε σύντομα

Police: Fake WannaCry emails demanding payment

Taking advantage

Police: Tense

Police: £22 million lost to rental fraud

Police: #DegreeGate

Police: Let’s Do The Maths

Police: Sir Tom Winsor

Police: THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE IS SEEKING A TOAD

Expression of Interest: National Leadership Magistrate

Police: Capacity for What?!

Police: More than £3 million lost to ticket fraud in one year prompts a warning from Action Fraud

How is this happening?

Police: THIS J.P.`s OUT OF THE OFFICE

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