At what point are we going to drop the fiction that acquisitive crime is on the wane and admit that we are in an epidemic of fraud? Today, Barclays Bank has appealed to social media firms – rather than banks like itself – to refund victims of online scams. I am sure that social media companies could do more to close down scams, but isn’t the real problem that the law is tolerating online crime in a way that it doesn’t tolerate other crime?

If your house is burgled, you know to contact the police. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they will investigate, or even pay you a visit to take fingerprints, but at least it will be recognised as a crime and you will be treated as a victim – even if you left your doors unlocked.

Let’s stop pretending that crime is falling and recognise online scams for what they are

But if you are defrauded online? Good luck with getting anyone to take that seriously. Contact the police and you will be referred to Action Fraud, surely the biggest misnomer of any public authority in Britain – Inaction Fraud would be more accurate. It is really just a database, set up to collect inflation and try to warn people of popular scams. It is not going to be launching an investigation into the crime to which you have fallen victim, still less arresting anyone and pursuing their prosecution.

Enter the online world and crime is treated as a mere occupational hazard. If you do get defrauded it is either tough luck, or at best your bank might refund you. But your bank may well try to blame it on you. There is no more blatant case of victim-blaming that the scorn levelled at people who fell for (often very plausible) scams.

Anyone wonder why we have ended up with so much online fraud – £1.2 billion’s worth in 2022 according to UK Finance – when the perpetrators are allowed to get with it with impunity? If we want to tackle fraud we are going to have to do rather more than expect banks and social media companies to bail out the victims. We are going to have to drag the scammers out of their bedsits, or wherever, and into the courts.

When the government and finance industry are trying to push us into a cashless society they tell us that electronic payments are traceable, unlike suitcases full of cash being handed over at motorway service stations. Go on, then: trace the money that has been lost through scams, all the way back to the criminals who instigated them. If they are abroad, demand their extradition, or threaten to cut off aid or trade.

Pushing everything online is putting people ever more at risk of fraud. That includes banks who have been closing their branches and forcing customers to bank online.

So, no, Barclays and others should not be allowed to escape their responsibilities. In particular, money stolen through online scams must pass through some bank account. Surely banks have a very large liability in inadvertently helping to facilitate crime by allowing criminals to open bank accounts.

But, above all, let’s stop pretending that crime is falling and recognise online scams for what they are. Looking through my inbox I can see I am already the subject of several attempted frauds this morning – and it is only 10 o’clock. Not even in the darkest alleyways of 19th century London were we exposed daily to so much criminal activity.