Jersey seeing massive drop in scams - police chief

Chief Police Officer Robin Smith said his team has worked with other organisations to better protect islanders

There has been a “massive drop” in the number of telephone and online scams in Jersey, the island's chief police officer says.

There were 24 victims who came forward in January and there were two reported cases in the last month.

It was one of the trends of crimes that had been growing in the island and it was highlighted in the States of Jersey Police Annual Report 2023.

Greater work between police, banks, telephone companies and the government had helped raise awareness about these types of fraud, the report said.

'More sophistication'

One islander lost £100,000 earlier this year after falling victim to a telephone scam.

Chief Officer Robin Smith said such crimes were seen “particularly at the beginning of the year” but this month Jersey Police saw “a massive drop” in the number of cases.

“That's because banks, telephone companies, including the government, came together and looked at what we could do to improve people's information,” he said.

He also said the type of crime requires “more sophistication, more specialism” to tackle and he believes the force’s Digital Forensic Unit would “get bigger over the years because of the sophistication in technology criminals are using".

Mr Smith said he had “enormous” support from the Jersey Police Authority and the home affairs minister to meet such changing demands in the island.

He said: “It is for the police authority to ensure that I am efficient and effective, and it is my job is to show that they get a good bang for their buck.”

He also said that he expected that the force would continue to have the support and resources needed "going forward".