NI crime figures: Scammers defraud victims out of £19m in a year

This year’s Action Fraud figures were released on the same day as the PSNI separately released its overall figures on recorded crime., external

Its data showed that the number of crimes reported to the PSNI fell by almost 10% over the past year.

The PSNI said it recorded a total of 97,310 crimes in Northern Ireland between 1 December 2023 and 30 November 2024.

That was a decrease of 10,657 crimes (or 9.9%) when compared to the previous 12 months.

In fact, recorded crime was at its lowest level since lockdown rules severely restricted public movement at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Theft as a result of burglary was down significantly, falling almost 20% on the previous year.

Overall, recorded crime levels fell in each of the 11 policing districts, but Ards and North Down and Newry, Mourne and Down saw the percentage falls of 15.5% and 15% respectively.

However, there was an increase in the number of murders recorded across the year – they increased from nine in December 2022 to November 2023 to 15 murders in the past 12 months.

There was also a small increase in the number of shoplifting offences, with 64 more reports made by businesses compared to the previous year.