Harper Adams criminologist appears on Countryfile to put spotlight on agricultural fraud

The BBC One programme, which airs on a Sunday, was looking at the issue as part of the wider Scam Safe week.

The show spoke to farmers about how scams had affected them, as well as to the Newport-based university's criminologist Dr Kreseda Smith. 

Presenter Tom Heap met with farmers  including Rob Alderson, from Ludlow, who  found himself caught out by a Facebook page which was offering a machine he hoped could help him during that year’s busy harvest.  

The machine appeared to be in Scotland – which was too far for Rob to travel during harvest – but the page and the machine looked convincing enough for Rob to pay more than £6,000 – at which point the seller vanished.  

Rob eventually got his money back, but he described how affecting it had been to be targeted by the criminals. 

The programme set out how around £50 million was lost to invoice scammers last year – and highlighted a recent investigation by TSB, which discovered at least one in three Facebook Marketplace listings could be fraudulent, costing those affected almost £60 million. 

To find out how these various scams can affect those targeted, Tom visited Harper Adams to speak with Dr Smith. She set out her research into the issue – and how serious the impact of these crimes can be. 

She said: "Research that I've done in the past with farmers, looking at how crime affects their mental health, has indicated that this can range anything from anxiety, paranoia, lack of sleep, right through to the extremes of suicidal behaviour, which is a horrendous thought. 

“We hear it a lot - when victims of fraud and scams say things like ‘how could I be so stupid to fall for that?’” 

Because of this, she added: “Sadly, fraud is probably one of those crimes that is an extreme example of under-reporting.  

“It's important not to think that you're an idiot for falling for this. 

“Criminals are clever. Criminals have a good idea of the agricultural calendar - so they know harvest time is a great time to try. 

“Criminals are very quick to respond to changes in the environment. 

“The recent Budget is very front and centre of farmers’ minds at the moment, and I think criminals are aware of that. 

"And I think this whole issue around inheritance tax may raise the opportunity for criminals to perpetrate some kind of scam, whether it's a way of helping farmers to reduce their liabilities, or some other form. That is a potential. 

“This just shows how flexible criminals are – so they can work very quickly to create a new scam.” 

To see the episode, visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0025fx0/countryfile-northumberland-coast-in-autumn