Britain's response to the fraud problem which costs the country £14 billion is not good enough and too many criminals slip through the net, the Attorney General has warned.
A national fraud squad could help to disrupt the links between scams and international terrorism, while the possibility of judge-only trials - which do away with juries - should be explored, Lord Goldsmith said.
Speaking at the Financial Service Authority's financial crime conference in London, he said: "Fraud has to be taken seriously. At the last count it cost the UK economy an estimated £14 billion a year.
"That is £230 for every person in the UK. Fraud facilitates other crime such as terrorism. There is clear evidence that fraud is becoming a crime of choice for organised crime and terrorist funding."
Lord Goldsmith raised concerns about fraud being seen as victimless and not a target for police or companies.
He said: "We must also bear in mind that fraud is not necessarily treated as seriously as some other types of criminal behaviour. For example, a significant amount of commercial fraud is never reported by companies for fear that they will gain a bad reputation.
"Anecdotally, I hear about insurance companies routinely receiving claims against fraud insurance policies worth tens of millions of pounds, but that these are never reported to the police.
"Neither is fraud part of the national policing plan so that there are police forces who have no, or very little fraud capability. It follows that a very considerable degree of fraud is currently not being dealt with."
Judge-only trials could provide an answer to lengthy and complex cases which often left jurors struggling.
