Leader: UK FBI risks abandoning e-crime victims

Cracking down on the Mister Bigs of organised crime is the aim of the UK's FBI, launched earlier this week.

But one of the lesser-noted implications of the launch of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) is the fate of the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), which along with a number of other specialist groups has been rolled into the agency.

Some industry watchers have already voiced their concerns about the emphasis that will now be given to electronic crimes.

And it's disappointing to note that if you now visit the NHTCU website, you are greeted with a message which says, in effect, 'get lost'.

It starts: "The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit has now become part of the Serious Organised Crime Agency."

So far so good. But after that it starts to go downhill.

"As a result the NHTCU is no longer providing individual responses to enquiries either via this web site or direct email contacts. If you are a member of the public wishing to report a crime or criminal attempt, please contact your local police force within your country of residence."

This is perhaps to give them a bit of a breather following the rush to move over to the new agency. But then again, the move was hardly a surprise - the date for the switchover has been in the diary for quite some time.

And what this note seems to say is, if you have a hi-tech crime problem, go talk to your local bobby. But bad luck if your nasty cyber-criminal doesn't live round the corner, because your local force probably won't have the skills to chase bad guys very far.

SOCA needs to dispel this sense of abandonment before it is too late. If it is going to fight e-crime it needs to make it easier for the public - and business - to report problems. Otherwise SOCA could be kicking the fight against internet crime back into touch.