Fraudsters steal £33 million from people and businesses in the West Midlands in just six months

Between April and September last year, fraudsters struck 17,185 times, taking money off businesses and individuals.

But criminal proceedings were only ever brought in a small number of cases. West Midlands Police's Economic Crime Unit recorded 821 outcomes, including 32 people being charged, 13 cautioned, seven handed a community order and 24 referred to another investigative agency. The remainder are either filed as no further action, are part of an ongoing investigation or a suspect was never identified.

The criminal's eye-watering £33m haul is an 85 per cent increase on the same period in 2017, with West Midlands Police admitting fraud has become a "major issue" in the region.

The more than 17,000 incidents was a 17 per cent increase on 2017. Businesses were the target in 73 per cent of cases.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said more action is required to tackle fraud.

He said: "It is clear that fraud is major issue that is costing the people of the West Midlands millions of pounds each year.

"Preventative measures can cut this down further, but it is also clear that more action is required.

"I am investing in this area to tackle the growing threat. I am pleased that there is now proposed to be a new regional role to co-ordinate our efforts in tackling this crime. These efforts need to be matched at the national level too, as many of these crimes cross local and national borders.

"One thing should be clear though, this is a growing area of threat at a time when general police force budgets are still feeling the squeeze."

The most common type of fraud by volume is cheque, plastic card and online fraud, according to West Midlands Police.