Central Bedfordshire Council has launched a new cyber crime survey and is encouraging members of the public to take part.

Cyber crime is the term given to criminal activity that either targets or uses a computer, or a networked device such as a mobile phone. The aim for most cyber criminals is to achieve financial gain.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests that people are more likely to become a victim of cyber crime and fraud than any other type of crime, but it is significantly under reported. Therefore, in its 2021-2024 strategy, the Community Safety Partnership – made up of Bedfordshire Police, Central Bedfordshire Council, Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Services, National Probation Services and Bedfordshire’s Clinical Commissioning Group - identified cyber crime as an ‘emerging priority’. 

Central Bedfordshire Council commissioned the survey, with input from Bedfordshire Police’s Cyber Protect and Prevent Team, to establish the scale, the impact and awareness of cyber crime in Central Bedfordshire to inform future work.

Cllr Ian Dalgarno, Central Bedfordshire Council Executive Member for Community Services, said: “Cyber crime covers a wide range of criminal activity, from ‘phishing’ emails or copycat websites to social media hacking and romance scams. We want to hear from as many people as possible so we can establish how common this issue is in Central Bedfordshire.

“Cyber crime was identified as an ‘emerging issue’ by the Community Safety Partnership (CSP), and we therefore committed to finding out more about how it affects our communities. This is the first piece of work to help us do that, and the results will help inform the future work of the CSP. I would like to encourage as many people as possible to take part, as this will prove really valuable to our work moving forward.”

To take the survey, visit: www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/consultations 

To request a copy of the survey in another format, please email: community.safety@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

The survey will close on Friday 4 February 2022.