By Steve Conley, Academy of Life Planning
In a quiet village or a bustling city street, behind a phone call, an email, or a too-good-to-be-true investment offer, a predator lurks. And every few seconds, somewhere in Britain, someone falls victim. The numbers are staggering: 4.1 million fraud cases last year alone—a 33% rise—and yet prosecutions fell by 10%. Welcome to the UK’s fastest-growing and least-prosecuted crime wave.
Fraud now makes up 40% of all reported crime. One in four Britons is targeted weekly. The cost? £6.8 billion annually to our economy. But the human cost—devastated trust, lifelong shame, and stolen futures—is far greater. Behind every data point lies a story of shattered confidence, broken families, and relentless anxiety. And yet, compared to other crimes, fraud has become the one you can commit without consequence.
Imagine a country where more people are taken to court for not paying their TV licence than for orchestrating elaborate, life-ruining scams. That country is Britain.
A System Ill-Equipped for a Digital Monster
The police are not indifferent. In fact, they care deeply. But they are drowning. Fraud has mutated into a complex, borderless, and highly organised crime. The local bobby on the beat was never meant to chase global crime syndicates armed with AI, fake identities, and offshore servers.
The truth is sobering: our criminal justice system was built for a bygone era. It cannot keep pace with a crime that evolves by the minute. And while prevention efforts—like those led by Virgin Media O2—deserve applause, prevention alone will not mend broken lives. Blocking scam calls doesn’t erase the trauma of losing life savings or being abandoned by a system meant to protect you.
From Victim to Survivor: The Role of Get SAFE
This is where Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation) steps in—not as another arm of a failing system, but as a lifeline.
Born from grassroots resilience, Get SAFE is a proposed charity built on a simple but radical belief: victims of financial crime deserve structured, compassionate recovery—without cost, without shame, and without delay.
Too often, victims are left alone to pick up the pieces. The police are overstretched, the ombudsman overwhelmed, and the courts elusive. Friends disappear. Families fracture. But at Get SAFE, we don’t ask “Why did you fall for it?” We ask, “How can we help you rise?”
What Get SAFE Offers
- Peer-led recovery programmes: Trauma-informed, six-week journeys based on our proven GAME Plan system, helping victims rebuild emotionally, financially, and spiritually.
- Free legal guidance & advocacy: Navigating the Kafkaesque maze of complaints, ombudsman processes, and compensation schemes.
- A community of lived experience: A safe space where no one is blamed, and every story matters.
Get SAFE doesn’t just help victims recover—it transforms them into advocates, empowering them to protect others and change the system from within.
Making Fraud a National Priority
The call from business leaders and policy think tanks is growing louder: we need a national fraud-fighting body with real teeth. But we also need an equally strong support system for the wounded.
Until that day arrives, Get SAFE is answering the call now. We are filling the silence with empathy, the inaction with purpose, and the despair with hope.
Fraud may be the crime of the modern age. But recovery—true, empowered recovery—can be its antidote. It’s time to stop treating victims as afterthoughts and start helping them rebuild and thrive.
Because justice isn’t just about punishment. It’s about healing.
To support or refer someone to Get SAFE, visit the Academy website.
Together, we can turn victims into victors and restore what was taken—one life at a time.
About Get SAFE
Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation) was born from a simple truth: too many victims of financial abuse are left to suffer in silence.
We exist for people like Ian—for the ones who did everything right, only to be failed by the systems they trusted. We know that behind every vanished pension, every ignored complaint, and every stonewalled letter is a person—frightened, exhausted, and too often alone.
Get SAFE offers more than sympathy. We offer structure, support, and solidarity.
We provide a voice where there’s been silence, and clarity where there’s been confusion.
We stand beside those who have been exploited, not just to help them recover—but to help them reclaim their story and rebuild their future.
Because financial justice is not a luxury.
It’s a human right.
If you or someone you know has been affected by financial exploitation, we are here.
You are not alone.
Learn more at: Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation).
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