2012 Olympics

The London 2012 Olympic Games will be the one of the largest events ever staged in the UK. 

Organised criminals will look for any opportunity to make money, and the London 2012 Olympic Games is an obvious target for them. Fraud, organised immigration crime, intellectual property crime, e-crime and money laundering are likely to be the main threats, with criminal activity starting well in advance of the Games themselves.  

Fraudulent activity currently linked to the London 2012 Olympic Games includes the use of the ‘London 2012’ name appearing in mass marketing frauds, including fake websites and email scams, offering employment, tickets, and lotteries and prize draws which purport to raise funds for the Games. A large number of companies have been registered with names that make a direct connection to London 2012, and thousands of Internet domain names have been registered with ‘2012’ in the title; some of these may be used in the future to conduct fraudulent activity. 

The construction phase started in February 2008 at the Olympic Park in London. This is one of the largest construction sites in Europe.  Opportunities exist for fraud, labour exploitation and theft of plant and materials due to the size and complexity of the build.