Speaking English makes Britons more vulnerable to foreign fraudsters, the Security Minister has claimed.
Damian Hinds told the Commons Justice Select Committee overseas scammers are more likely to prey on UK victims because of the language.
He said: “There are some great things about this country but unfortunately some of them make us attractive to fraudsters.
“One of them is the English language - that just means it’s a bigger market of potential people to try and defraud consumers here, so we have to work harder to make sure it becomes an inhospitable market.”
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He said “most fraud” offences committed on UK victims involve “at least partly an overseas element”.
Only a “minority” of offences “are an entirely British phenomenon”, said the minister.
Hunting down suspects becomes harder if they are based abroad, he added.
“Historically we are used to dealing with proximity crime where a perpetrator and a victim are either in the same place or at least near to each other - if your car is broken into or your house is burgled,” Mr Hinds told MPs.
“This is distance crime - you talk about fraud or money laundering or cyber, the perpetrator can be hundreds of miles away, they can be thousands of miles away, and they can be in a different jurisdiction altogether.”
Mr Hinds hit back at criticism of low-detection rates and claims fraud is not treated as a priority by police and the criminal justice system.
He added: “It’s a priority for me.”
Committee chairman Maria Eagle told him: “Fraud is a huge and growing crime and problem costing billions.
“Action Fraud estimated £2.4billion had been lost to fraud in 2020-21.
“We know that CPS ((the Crown Prosecution Service) prosecuted 6,500 defendants in that year, but Action Fraud recorded 413,945 instances of fraud, with approximately another 400,000 reported through alternative channels.”
The Office for National Statistics believes just 15% of fraud crimes are reported, she added.
