leaandley

A national e-crime evidence centre hosted by North Yorkshire County Council, which has been set up and expanded to tackle the growing threat of internet scams, is to be formally opened next week by peer Lord Toby Harris.

The National Trading Standards E-crime Centre’s digital evidence unit (DEU) has recently doubled in size to increase consumer protection against internet scams and online fraud.

The lab has been extended to accommodate 4 more forensic analysts and a forensic technician, bringing the new e-crime unit’s strength up from 5 to 9 forensic staff.

Lord Toby Harris, chairman of the National Trading Standards Board, and member of both the House of Lords Select Committee on “Personal Internet Security”, and the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, will formerly open the unit on Monday 7th October 2013

The new staff based in the county council DEU will work closely with the e-crime enforcement officers in York, hosted by the City of York Council. Together they constitute the National Trading Standards eCrime Centre’s e-crime unit. The new staff will help reduce turnaround times and enhance the support given to local trading standards officers and regional scambuster teams.

The expansion of the DEU forms part of the National Trading Standard Board’s overall investment in consumer protection. It represents a longer term commitment to improve trading standards’ capacity nationally to tackle internet scams and rip-offs targeted at both consumers and businesses.

Source:  Micron Associates