TWO North Yorkshire councils are set to receive about £600,000 a year to deal with the threat of cyber crime and rogue traders in the region.
The money from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is aimed at tackling internet scams and online fraud and is expected to create up to 14 new jobs to beef up investigation teams.
A joint bid for the grant was made by North Yorkshire County Council, City of York Council and the East of England Trading Standards Association (EESTA) in September and was subsequently given “preferred-bidder” status over a string of rival applications. Annual funding of between £590,000 and £640,000 is expected to be given to the councils over a three-year cycle.
The county council’s executive will be recommended to accept the grant when it meets on January 10, with a report by its corporate director for business and environmental services, David Bowe, saying the authority’s trading standards teams and their York counterparts would take charge of projects based around investigative and forensic work. EESTA will have responsibility for intelligence gathering and training.
Mr Bowe’s report said: “E-crime, or cyber crime, is an area of trading standards’ work which is increasing as we experience more and more falsely described products or services being sold online and direct scams or frauds being perpetrated through the use of the internet.
“In essence, rogue traders are using the internet to facilitate their illegal activities for financial gain. Such activities exploit vulnerabilities in the use of the internet and other electronic systems by the public and businesses.”
The county council already has an internet and digital evidence recovery laboratory and the funding would see an e-crime manager and three or four new technicians appointed, together with three or four new investigative roles within City of York Council and four or five new jobs at EESTA.
Mr Bowe’s report said City of York Council already has a regional investigation team run on behalf of the Yorkshire and Humber Trading Standards Group, adding: “This team has proved to be successful and further investigative work would enhance its ability to combat consumer detriment caused by trading scams.”