Law Commission calls for crackdown on e-fraud

The Law Commission has published a list of recommendations designed to create legislation to cope with modern credit card and Internet fraud.

The recommendations were published yesterday in response to an admission by the Lord Chancellor last summer that "even when fraud is detected, the present procedures are often cumbersome and difficult to prosecute effectively."

Many of the laws used to prosecute for fraud take no account of electronic transactions or situations where a fraudster deals with an automatic attendant.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants has estimated that in 1997, £122m went to fraudsters through the misuse of credit cards.

The proposals submitted to the government include introducing a new offence for credit, debit and cheque card fraud and extending the charge of obtaining property by deception to include defrauding automatic ordering systems.

The Commission has submitted the proposals to the Lord Chancellor's Office which, according to a spokeswoman at the department, will be forwarded to the Home Office for consideration. If they are accepted, the Home Office will then draw up a Green Paper to seek out a legislative opportunity.

Legal eagles are expected to be pleased at the prospect of a change in fraud laws. David Engel, solicitor at law firm, Theodore Goddard, and a specialist in media and Internet litigation, said: "It's a good thing because there is no charge for fraud in criminal law. Only obtaining property by deception is prosecutable in England, which opens up loopholes where the Internet and other automatic ordering systems are concerned.

"When you buy goods with a credit card over the phone or on the Net, there is no human interaction, and therefore no one to deceive. This will be a helpful addition when we need to clarify things," he said.