Cheshire Cyber Crime Unit
The internet connects us all — it’s where we shop, work, learn, and socialise. But as our lives move more online, so do the criminals. Cyber crime is one of the fastest-growing threats in the UK, affecting people of all ages and backgrounds. From scams that steal your savings to hackers targeting local businesses, the damage can be real and deeply personal.
That’s where we come in. Cheshire Constabulary Cyber Crime Unit is here to help protect our communities from online harm. Our mission goes beyond catching criminals — we want to make Cheshire a place where everyone can feel confident and safe online.
In order to achieve this, we work with regional and National partners, such as the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, City of London Police, National Crime Agency and North West Cyber Resilience Centre.
We follow the national 4 P’s approach to tackling cyber crime:
- Pursue – We track down those responsible and work with partners across the UK and beyond to bring offenders to justice.
- Protect – We help residents and businesses strengthen their defences, so they’re safer and more resilient online.
- Prepare – We make sure we’re ready to respond quickly and effectively when cyber incidents occur.
- Prevent – We share advice, training, and awareness to try and prevent cyber crime before it happens.
Cyber crime can happen to anyone — but by working together, learning more, and staying alert, we can make Cheshire a safer digital community for everyone.
How do I report being a victim of Cyber Crime?
All reports of both Fraud and Cyber Crime, should be reported in the first instance to Report Fraud.
Online: Report Fraud: Reporting Cyber Crime & Fraud
Phone: 0300 123 2040
Risks
Cybercrime is one of the biggest challenges facing the UK today. Criminals exploit technology to commit offences that can affect anyone — from individuals at home to large organisations. Understanding how these crimes happen is the first step to protecting yourself and others.
- Hacking and data breaches – Gaining unauthorised access to personal or business systems to steal information, disrupt services, or cause damage.
- Phishing and social engineering – Fraudsters trick you into giving away passwords, bank details, or sensitive information, often through convincing emails, texts, or fake websites.
- Malware and ransomware – Malicious software that can lock, steal, or destroy data — sometimes demanding payment to restore access.
- Online scams and cyber-enabled fraud – Using the internet to commit traditional crimes such as investment scams, fake online sales, or romance fraud.
- Identity theft – Stealing someone’s personal information to open accounts, apply for credit, or impersonate them online.
The significant development of Artificial Intelligence products which are widely available and easy to access, is changing how cybercriminals are operating; increasing the risks to people and businesses. It is being used to make scams more convincing and allowing criminals to scale their opportunities.
Criminals are using AI to produce realistic emails, messages, websites and even fake voices and videos, making scams look and sound genuine. This includes deepfake phone calls pretending to be relatives or managers, and fake investment or support websites that closely resemble well established and genuine brands.
AI lowers the barrier for criminals, meaning people with limited technical skills can use ready‑made tools from online marketplaces to launch sophisticated attacks. AI tools also help criminals automate attacks, quickly generating large numbers of targeted phishing messages and scam sites aimed at UK victims. Reports in the UK highlight AI being used in financial crime, phishing, ransomware, and romance scams, with serious financial and personal harm for those affected.
The effects of cybercrime reach far beyond the screen. Victims often experience financial loss, emotional distress, and damage to reputation or business operations. For small businesses, one attack can mean weeks of disruption and lost customer trust. For individuals, the emotional toll of being deceived or defrauded can be just as serious as the financial cost.
Protect and Support
Cheshire Cyber Crime Unit have a dedicated Protect Officer, who is constantly driving our Cyber Protect messaging through delivering training, presentations and advice to the Cheshire communities including schools, professional bodies, businesses and charities, in relation to online offending, risks, safeguarding and security.
If you are interested in understanding how we could support your school, business or charity please contact us through the Cheshire Police online contact portal.
Cyber Hygiene
Here are six practical steps for individuals or businesses to implement to improve online security:
- Use a strong and independent password for your email
- Create passwords using three random words
- Turn on 2-step Verification (2SV) for all accounts
- Consider using a password manager
- Back up your data regularly
- Update your devices operating system
You and Your Family
You and your family deserve to feel safe and confident online, just as you do in your own home. We have brought together practical guidance, tools and trusted organisations to help you manage your digital life securely.
Here you will find clear, easy-to-follow support on topics that affect everyday life: staying safe from domestic abuse when technology is being misused, keeping children and young people safer while gaming, strengthening your online security and privacy, and protecting your money from scams and fraud with links to specialist charities, national helplines and official advice if you need extra support.
National Cyber Security Centre - Advice for you and your family
The Cyber Helpline - Help for victims of cyber crime, digital fraud & online harm
SWGfl - Safety and security online
Get Safe Online - The UK's leading online safety advice resource
Spot the AI - Test your skills to see if you can tell what is real or not
Cyber criminals exploit weaknesses in software and apps to attack your devices and steal your identity. Software and app updates are designed to fix these weaknesses and installing them as soon as possible will keep your devices secure.
Information can easily be found about how to install these updates from Apple, Microsoft and Google.
Use 'Find Devices' to find your lost Apple devices
Find, secure, or erase a lost Android device
We recommend that you stop people following you that you don’t know on social media, and check your privacy settings on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and any other social media platforms that you use.
Businesses and Charities
Cyber crime is now one of the most serious threats to businesses in the UK, regardless of size or sector. It can lead to significant financial loss, business disruption, theft of sensitive data, damage to reputation, and even legal or regulatory consequences if customer information is compromised.
Key considerations for businesses include understanding common threats such as phishing, ransomware and insider risk; ensuring strong basics like patching, backups and access controls; training staff to spot and report suspicious activity; managing third‑party and supply‑chain risk; and having an incident response plan so the organisation can recover quickly and maintain customer trust if an attack occurs.
Here are some useful resources:
North West Cyber Resilience Centre - The CRC provide training, assessments and education to businesses in the North West to provide the knowledge and skills to minimise your businesses exposure to the threats posed by Cyber criminals.
Cyber Action Toolkit - A tool kit which can be used by businesses, which provides personalised actions for you to enact upon to protect your business.
Cyber Essentials - A government backed certification scheme that helps keep your organisation and customer’s data safe from cyber attacks.
The NCSC recommends Cyber Essentials as the minimum standard of cyber security for all organisations
Police Cyber Alarm - This is a free tool available to businesses, which helps your business understand and monitor suspicious cyber activity from your firewall, helping to identify and minimise vulnerabilities.
Cyber Aware - Visit Cyber Aware or step-by-step instructions on keeping your devices up-to-date with the latest security updates, and for more online security advice.
Prevent
The Cyber Prevent programme seeks to stop Cyber Crime before happens. It does this by working with schools, social care, families and community groups to steer young people with strong tech skills away from Cyber Crime and into positive careers.
Upon receipt of a referral from partner agencies, we make an assessment on the individual to determine if there are suitable to be referred to Cyber Choices programme.
Cyber Choices is a national programme co-ordinated by the NCA which aims to:
- Educate individuals on the difference between legal and illegal cyber activity.
- Encourage individuals to make informed choices regarding use of technology.
- Increase awareness of the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
- Promote positive and legal cyber opportunities.
If you are a parent, work within social care or education and know someone who may benefit from this programme, you can contact us via Cheshire Constabulary’s online contact portal.
Find out more