On March 23, we’ll be heading over to Lincoln to present and exhibit at the inaugural Lincolnshire Rural and Cyber Crime Conference, hosted by Crimestoppers UK.

The event is an opportunity to learn more about the initiatives and strategies being developed and delivered to make Lincolnshire a safer place to live and work.

The conference will feature talks from a number of captivating speakers who have vast experience and knowledge in the tackling of both rural and cyber crime, followed by the option to visit each of the speakers in a more intimate environment, where you can ask questions, seek support and discuss ideas for your home and business.

Our Police Delivery Lead, DI Matt Carson, will be presenting at the conference. Matt says:

“Agriculture is a sector we’re keen to tap into and to reach out to from a cyber resilience angle. There’s a popular misconception that cyber crime only affects the big fish in the city or the major industries, but this is far from the truth. The agriculture sector is as much at risk as any other sector. Cyber criminals don’t have geographical boundaries. If they can see a vulnerability in a business, they will exploit it.

“One of the questions we’re often asked is ‘why do I need to worry about cyber crime? I run a small business that no one will be bothered about’. Our response to that is always 'does your business have a customer database? Do you run online systems, social media etc? If the answer is yes, you’re an interest to cyber criminals’. No one is exempt from the threat of cyber crime”.

Crimestoppers, along with partners the Police and Crime Commissioner, Riseholme College, the NFU and ourselves at the EMCRC will be delighted to welcome guests to this first ever agricultural conference.

The event takes place at Riseholme College in Lincoln from 5pm until 9.15pm on Wednesday, March 23.

To register for this free event, to see the full agenda and for location details, visit the EventBrite website.

Reporting

Report all Fraud and Cybercrime to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or online. Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. Report SMS scams by forwarding the original message to 7726 (spells SPAM on the keypad).