International criminal networks are preparing to disrupt the London 2012 Olympics with cyber attacks, a senior police officer warned today.

Scotland Yard has set up a specialist team to examine the extent of the threat of electronic and internet attacks on the Games.

Janet Williams, Deputy Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard, said that officers were investigating a number of front companies that criminals have set up to make money in complex frauds.

Ms Williams, who is responsible for leading the fight against electronic crime, said: “We are starting to see some precursor activity, we are starting to see companies being set up in what we believe are false names in anticipation of fraud and other types of criminal activity during the run-up to the Olympics.”

Speaking in Manchester at the Association of Chief Police Officers conference, she added: “There is a lot of work to be done with e-crime and the Olympics.

“We know from Canada and Beijing that the threats are real and they have grown in the last six months.”

Ms Williams said that criminals may be preparing sophisticated electronic attacks on athlete protection arrangements, the transport infrastructure, sponsorship deals and ticketing.

She added: “These are all potentially subject to abuses and we need to understand these and put plans in place quickly.”

Ms Williams warned that cyber criminals were determined, sophisticated and flourishing.

The conference heard that three million online crimes take place in Britain every year, about one every 10 seconds.

Ms Williams said that in recent months criminal networks had targeted London hospitals, police forces and major private companies, including well-known online shops.

She said: “Very recently we have had three London hospitals badly affected — that was identified as computer viruses overloading the systems.

“We have had police forces who have lost considerable parts of their capability for considerable periods of time and we have had attacks that have stopped other public services.”

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