The City of London Police reports that cyber crime and fraud are now the most common crimes in the United Kingdom. Digital fraudsters are benefiting from the advent of digital finance.
It has been estimated that in the first half of 2025, UK cyber crime and fraud losses tallied £629.3 million stolen via payment fraud.
Ploys like phishing, investment scams, and supply chain attacks are prevalent.
Banks reportedly prevented £870 million in attempted fraud in the first half of 2025, blocking many crooks.Yet more must be done.
The City of London Police have announced a new “Report Fraud” service, which is predicted to transform how cyber crime and fraud are reported and how law enforcement and industry respond. Built from the ground up, it is described as “a single, modern national gateway for reporting and intelligence that will strengthen the collective response of policing, government, and the private sector.”
Pete O’Doherty, Commissioner of the City of London Police and the Senior Responsible Officer for delivering Report Fraud, says these crimes are most likely to harm people, but too often these victims do not know who to turn to.
“These crimes cause more than financial loss and often have devastating impacts on those targeted. We see the true cost of cyber crime and fraud when taking reports from those affected.”
O’Doherty says Report Fraud is a landmark step forward that puts victims first.
“This is not just a new service; it is a major upgrade to the UK’s defences against economic crime.”
Jonathan Frost, Director of Global Advisory for EMEA at BioCatch, says the idea of prosecuting fraud as inefficient ignores the fact that the Fraud Act was enacted.
“The Fraud Review made clear, nearly 20 years ago, that fraud wasn’t being prosecuted because the system treated complexity as an excuse. The Act was designed to make fraud a routine criminal offence, not an optional one. The world hasn’t moved on as much as we pretend,” says Frost. “Fraud is still committed by identifiable people and networks that are within the reach of law enforcement. When offenders can be prosecuted, the state has a duty to do so. Prevention matters, but deterrence only works when enforcement is credible.”
The legal framework is not the problem, explains Frost. It is the lack of action.
“What holds us back today is capacity, misaligned incentives, and a growing detection asymmetry that favours criminals. Framing prosecution as inefficient risks normalising those failures rather than solving them.”
Perhaps the new Report Fraud project will address the shortcomings in regarding to fraud enforcement.