CRIMINALS are committing fraud because they believe they are less likely to get caught, according to Greater Manchester Police’s chief constable.

Sir Peter Fahy said fraud is on the increase because bank robbers and other criminals see it as “a less risky” crime to commit.

His comments were made at a public forum chaired by Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd.

Mr Lloyd held the forum to quiz senior officers about how crime is being policed following concerns from residents about how incidents they reported were dealt with.

Sir Fahy said: “Why would you rob a bank? It’s a really stupid thing and a really dangerous thing to do and you are likely to get caught.

“It’s much better to try to defraud the bank. It’s a lot easier and physically safer for you and your chances of being apprehended are a lot lower and you are going to get away with more money. It’s the reality that even the dimmest criminal is working that out.”

He added the way fraud is dealt with needed to be “redressed”.

Nearly 3,000 frauds were reported to the force last year but police believe the amount is a lot higher but people do not know who to log the incident with.

The meeting at Salford Civic Centre in Swinton heard that senior officers are frustrated with big retailers who write crime off rather than work with the police.

Sir Fahy said it encourages dishonesty.

Sam Frenz, from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office, said correspondence Mr Lloyd had received said people felt GMP was “not interested” when they reported a fraud and “frustrated” about the lack of attention their complaint received.

Some people said they felt confused about whether to report fraud incidents to the police or Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud reporting centre, which is run by National Fraud Authority, a government agency.

Mr Lloyd, speaking at the end of the meeting, said issues raised in the meeting would be followed up.