Mayor announces new funding for ‘The Cyber Helpline’ to help better protect Londoners from online harm

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today (Wednesday, 6^th December) announced £170,000 of funding for a dedicated London team of cybersecurity experts to better protect Londoners from online harm.

The new investment is part of a one-year pilot to boost the reach and capacity of the award-winning charity ‘The Cyber Helpline’¹ which has already helped 600,000 people nationally since 2020 and directly supported more than 40,000 victims.
 

The new dedicated helpline team, funded by the Mayor, will provide Londoners with free expert advice on cybercrime – including specialist one-to-one support for victims. The service works via a secure chatbot on the website, recording and processing requests for help and advice 24 hours a day and passing them on to a dedicated London team for one-to-one phone and email contact as needed. The majority of The Cyber Helpline's cases have been about online harassment, cyberstalking, sextortion and hacked social media accounts, with fewer than 35 per cent of those seeking help reporting their cases to police.

The action comes as new figures show fraud and computer misuse are now estimated to make up 50 per cent of all incidents of crime in England and Wales² and across the Met, the number of offences flagged as online/internet enabled crime has risen by 119 per cent between April 2019 and April 2023.³ A recent national representative survey⁴ showed that more than half (55 per cent) of adults were most worried about being affected by online fraud and that only just over half of victims reported their crime to the police or Action Fraud.

As people do more and more online, the threat from cybercrime continues to grow, including fraud, data theft, grooming and/or exploitation of children, stalking and harassment. This crime is harder to detect, more complex to investigate, and operates across borders.

Young Londoners are increasingly targeted, with just five per cent of those receiving unwanted sexual messages or pictures reporting their experience to the police. The charity, The Cyber Helpline, is concerned that a large number of victims are suffering in silence because they are unclear if their experience meets the threshold of a criminal offence and they don’t know where to go for advice and help. 

The dedicated helpline service funded by the Mayor will serve to fill the gap in the specialist support available for all victims of cybercrime and online harm and provide them with straightforward and practical guidance to improve their wellbeing, online confidence and personal safety. 

The Mayor’s funding will allow The Cyber Helpline to better support people in London experiencing online harm by creating pathways to referrals for the police and other relevant agencies, developing threat assessments and providing expert technical and legal advice to help, where appropriate, turn cases into prosecutions.

Londoners can access the service online here: https://www.thecyberhelpline.com/

The investment is part of the Mayor’s violence against women and girls strategy which is championing a public health approach to ending violence against women and girls.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Every woman and girl is entitled to be safe, and to feel safe – whatever the time of day and wherever they are in the capital. That includes being safe online and on mobile phones - where we know women and girls are being increasingly targeted.

“Too often those impacted don’t know where to turn for expert help and advice. That’s why today I’ve announced new investment to set up a dedicated London helpline team within the award-winning charity The Cyber Helpline to fill the gap in the specialist support available for those in need. This new service will provide Londoners with free expert advice on cybercrime 24 hours a day as part of our action to build a safer London for everyone.”

Claire Waxman OBE, London’s Independent Victims’ Commissioner, said: “For many years, there has been a significant lack of understanding around the impact that online harm, such as cyberstalking, harassment, and 'sextortion' can have on victims, with women and girls disproportionately affected. The complexity of such criminality often leaves victims unsure of their rights and where to turn for support.

“The Cyber Helpline is a much valued member of my Victims Reference Group, and I am grateful for the support that they have provided to victims I have referred to their service, and for the expert knowledge that they have shared with the Met Police to aid investigations into such crime.

“I welcome this funding and the Mayor’s commitment to ensuring that Londoners are able to receive the tailored advice and guidance required when navigating through the criminal justice system, as well as the specialist support needed to cope and recover.”

Rory Innes, Founder and CEO of The Cyber Helpline said: “We're delighted that The Cyber Helpline has received this funding and look forward to working in partnership with MOPAC to grow the support we're able to offer in the capital, helping achieve our mission to ensure everyone has immediate access to expert, cybersecurity help when they need it.

As the Founder & CEO of The Cyber Helpline, I am focused on growing a unique charity providing expert support to those experiencing cybercrime, digital fraud and online harm. Since its launch the helpline has opened more than 40,000 cases providing guidance on issues ranging from scams and fraud through to unauthorised access. What's clear during the last 3 years is that online harassment and cyberstalking account for most cases, showing that cybercrime is much more nuanced, requiring a more specialist approach to resolution. 

This partnership will enable us to localise the expertise we're able to provide to London residents and build out the support we can offer in the capital, closing the gap in support for London residents experiencing online harm”

Notes to editors:

¹Cyber Helpline was set up in 2020 and provides free, expert help for victims of cybercrime, digital fraud & online harm – many of whom haven’t reported to the police – whose role is to investigate a crime rather than guide people through dealing with the online harm, recovering or learning from the issue. https://www.thecyberhelpline.com/

Since 2020 the majority of The Cyber Helpline's cases have been about online harassment, cyberstalking, sextortion and hacked social media accounts, showing that cybercrime is much more nuanced, requiring a more specialist approach to resolution.

Over the last 13 months, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau showed that 57,189 individuals reported cybercrime and fraud to the police in London. These individuals reported losses of £525.1 million. However, less than 35% of service users report to the police, and, the charity expects the actual picture in London to be nearer to 163,400 individuals with losses of £1.5 billion.

² Fraud and computer misuse is now estimated to make up 50 per cent of all incidents of crime in England & Wales as measured by the Crime Survey for England and Wales. https://www.crimesurvey.co.uk/en/index.html

³ ONS Crime in England and Wales: year ending June 2023, MQ 2023/2283 Online criminal offences | London City Hall

• In the Met, the number of Fraud and Computer Misuse offences referred to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) by Action Fraud has increased by +21 per cent between FY18-19 and  FY22-23.
• Across the MPS, the number of offences flagged as online/ internet enabled crime has more than doubled between FY18-19 and FY22-23 (+119 per cent).

⁴ Crest Advisory’s report entitled “Online fraud: what does the public think?” carried out a large-scale survey of a representative sample of 3313 members of the general public.