The latest UK fraud statistics put pressure on the UK government’s future Fraud Strategy to finally take decisive action

After a long period of complacency, it would appear that the world is finally waking up to the global crime wave which has steadily been growing unchecked for the past decade; according to research by the Global Anti Scam Alliance (GASA), in 2024 fraud against consumers alone (thus excluding frauds against businesses and the public sector) exceeded $1 trillion.

As an affluent, digitally enabled, English-speaking nation, the UK has been disproportionately exposed to this global crime wave – a threat which show no signs of abating. In April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), noted that fraud had reached unprecedented levels in 2024 with an estimated 4.1 million incidents in England and Wales.

These statistics put paid to the previous government’s suggestion that their Fraud Strategy, launched in 2023 had been taking the fight back to the fraudsters. Indeed, the current government appear to recognise this with the UK government’s first ever Fraud Minister, Lord Hanson, announcing the intention to launch a new Fraud Strategy later this year at the recent Global Anti Scam Summit in London.

https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/war-fraud-how-uk-can-step-21st-century-crime-wave