that just taking online fraud seriously would be better then making a brand new shinny member, I mean unit...

A load of smaller online business just go out of business becouse the police couldn't give a rats ass about online fraud.

Did you read any of this?

"just taking online fraud seriously would be better then making a brand new shinny member..."

"This is what we are doing..."

"No, no, no. Just take it seriously."

Usual anti-police anti-logic.

http://www.polfed.org/Losing_the_Detectives-final.pdf

There are over 2,500 detective posts across England & Wales that are either empty or filled temporarily on a rotating basis by untrained "aides" from uniformed response teams.

As posted elsewhere on El Reg, the document ought to be of significant interest to anyone who can't understand why the police forces of the UK don't seem to take e-crime seriously.

Read it and weep... micro-management of the police by the Home Office is beginning to deliver the strategic meltdown that has been predicted for at least the last five years... and everyone loses...

No - they arn't going to take it seriously, they're going to make a new unit and then continue to ignore the problem whilst the new unit tries to figure out what it's supposed to do other then press releases and publicity stunts.

Strikes me that £1.3m is peanuts and no where near enough to be worthwhile. Where are the Banks and Ebay in all this and why are they not stepping forward to provide some funding ,after all the amount is a drop in the ocean compared to what they lose each day.

Well Banks, what do you say ??

I have a hard time taking criticism of the British police seriously. I haven't been to Britain lately but friends who have haven't reported any problems other than high prices - and yet comments often encountered on the Reg make it sound as if you are living in Haiti or its equivalent.

I have worked with police officers who have worked in both places and didn't hear anything from them that would suggest there was any similarity.

I hope for your sake that your negative view comes from not understanding the methods and constraints they work with. Do you know any police officers?

The Reg reports IT news (well, sometimes) and most readers have some interest it IT. I haven't seen any indication that IT professionals have managed to come to grips with the problem of 'e-crime' in any comprehensive way. Professionals whose sole concern is security haven't solved the problem (in fact they are quick to point out the difficulties) and yet you expect the police to step in and just take care of everything! And if they don't then they are accused of not giving a damn.

Doesn't exactly sound reasonable to me.

@AC Are you serious ?? You want industry to fund the police ?? What happens when the police finds corruption in the banks ?? Hmm prosecute or get more funding

How can we take any of this seriously when they cannot even get their own house in order?

Sadly I have encountered several police officers in social situations and mostly they tend to be utter tossers, rude, very arrogant (I'm talking they make Linux fanatics seem sweet as pie), they tend to be control freaks and aggresive. They also tend to lord it over people abusing there position of authority to intimidate people that interact with them outside of the job (for example running clubs or other social activities.) Of course I've only ever known 2 and known of one, but the pathology of power is still the pathology of power and 3 out of 3 fitting it so well is telling albeit not conclusive. They do a hard job - but not as hard as paramedics or A&E nurses.

As to why banks don't take any real action - banks don't tend to suffer directly from the problem becouse the bank claims the lost money back off of the retailer, the bank then refunds the consumer. The people that get left out of pocket generally are the retailers.