New figures from City of London Police, the National Lead Force for fraud, show that more than £106 million was lost to romance fraud in the UK last year, as the number of victims continues to rise.

In a bold move to raise awareness, City of London Police has launched a striking public campaign—taking over streets with romance-themed names to deliver hard-hitting messages where people least expect them.

Four iconic locations in the historic City of London —Love Lane, Rose Street, Honey Lane, and Bank—were chosen for their symbolic links to love and finance. Digital billboards along these streets were used to display targeted warnings to educate the public on the emotional manipulation and financial exploitation tactics used by romance fraudsters.

Data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) reveals a disturbing 9% increase in romance fraud reports in the past year, with 9,449 reports made in the 2024/25 financial year. On average, victims lost £11,222 each—proof of the emotionally devastating and financially ruinous impact of these crimes.

Detective Superintendent Oliver Little, from the Lead Force Operations Room at the City of London Police, said:

"Romance fraud isn’t just a financial crime—it’s a deeply personal betrayal that can leave lasting emotional scars. For the second consecutive year, male victims have slightly outnumbered females, challenging outdated stereotypes about who is affected by these scams.

“Despite this, stigma still surrounds romance fraud victims, often driven by misconceptions that they are foolish or lack judgment. In reality, criminals use sophisticated tactics to manipulate emotions and gain trust, making anyone vulnerable.

“We want to remind everyone that romance fraud can happen to anyone, regardless of gender or background. If something doesn’t feel right in an online relationship, take a step back, verify identities, and seek advice. Speaking up can not only protect yourself, but also help prevent others from falling victim and bring those responsible to justice."

Breaking outdated stereotypes, data reveals that—for the second consecutive year—male victims slightly outnumber female victims, challenging the misconception that romance fraud primarily targets elderly women. However, while more men reported cases, female victims tended to lose larger sums of money. This is likely due to the prolonged engagement with fraudsters, who manipulate emotions over extended periods.

The 50-59 age group experienced the highest financial losses, totalling £22,108,334. This demographic is particularly vulnerable as they often have greater financial resources, are still in the workforce, and may be experiencing personal life changes such as divorce, separation, or the loss of a partner, making them prime targets for fraudsters.

One key tactic used by scammers is ‘love bombing’, where fraudsters overwhelm victims with excessive affection, manipulation, and emotional control to create dependency. Intelligence gathered by City of London Police suggests that nearly twice as many female victims engaged with suspects for a year or more compared to males, indicating a reluctance to believe they’ve been deceived.

Romance fraud isn’t just about losing money—it’s about emotional betrayal, psychological harm, and the erosion of trust. City of London Police urges the public to question suspicious relationships, verify identities, and protect both their hearts and their bank accounts.

https://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/news/city-of-london/news/2025/june/a-wrong-turn-on-love-lane-city-of-london-police-take-over-city-streets-to-warn-of-the-dangers-of-romance-fraud-with-more-than-106-million-lost-in-the-last-year/

The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) Spending Review settlement increases the organisation’s funding by more than 10% from 2026 to 2029.

The Attorney General Lord Hermer KC said:

"The criminal justice system was on the brink of collapse and courts in crisis after fourteen years of neglect. We need to make our streets safe again, while also rebuilding confidence in the system.

"That is why I welcome the Chancellor’s record investment into the future of CPS as part of the government’s Plan for Change to deliver safer streets and swifter justice.

This additional £96m for the Crown Prosecution Service will help protect victims by tackling the backlog, speeding up justice and unlocking digital developments through AI so we can keep dangerous offenders off our streets – and importantly, deliver a justice system that serves victims".

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/additional-96m-for-the-crown-prosecution-service

Victims of fraud and economic crime will be better protected through a funding boost outlined in the Spending Review for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as part of the government’s Plan for Change to cut crime and plan to invest in Britain’s renewal.

• Serious Fraud Office receives further investment to tackle serious economic
• Funding will be used to build the SFO’s intelligence function to intercept criminality earlier in complex cases
• Funding will be used to improve digital capabilities and streamline resources

More than £8 million of investment over the next three years will be spent on strengthening the SFO’s intelligence and information-gathering work and continuously expanding the agency’s use of technology to assist with disclosure.

The extra funding, which is in addition to the £9.3 million of funding announced in the Budget, will be used to bolster SFO’s intelligence capabilities so it can proactively  identify and progress the biggest and complex economic crimes.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-commits-to-crackdown-on-fraud-bribery-and-corruption-with-further-investment

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

The union at the centre of Birmingham's crippling bin strike had a “pervasive fraud environment”, a leaked auditors’ report has concluded.

Global tax advisory firm BDO found there had been a culture at Unite that “did not challenge the appropriateness of transactions” and failed to ensure appropriate financial reporting.

It concluded “dominant personalities and a weak control environment facilitated opportunities to commit fraud” at the union.

The audit was ordered by general secretary Sharon Graham shortly after she entered her role in 2021 amid questions about accounting and spending on building a hotel and conference centre in Birmingham.

Its findings were presented to the union’s executive council on Friday.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/union-centre-birmingham-bin-strike-131523810.html

Lucrative contracts were handed out by NHS managers in return for cash and gifts across the country.

Four men have been jailed in a £6m corruption and bribery probe at health boards across Scotland.

The group was charged following investigations into the awarding of lucrative NHS contracts to an Ayrshire–based telecommunications firm.

Adam Sharoudi, 41, and Gavin Brown, 48, ran Oricom Ltd, a firm that started from a garden shed and went on to secure major deals.

However, prosecutors said the contracts for the supply and maintenance of telecoms and video conferencing equipment broke the rules regarding financial wrongdoing in the tendering process.

https://news.stv.tv/scotland/four-men-jailed-over-6-5m-nhs-scotland-corruption-and-bribery

The Midlands has been identified as a fraud hotspot in new research from BDO, with the value of fraud in the region hitting £24m during 2024.

This total includes a case against a Worcester-based supervisor, alleging about 4,000 fraudulent furlough claims totalling £7m. Such false claims and overpayments ranked as the second largest granular fraud type by value nationally, totalling £60m of reported frauds across the UK in 2024.

BDO's latest FraudTrack survey said that only London and the South East, and the North West, recorded higher levels of reported fraud value than the Midlands in 2024.

https://www.bdo.co.uk/en-gb/insights/advisory/forensic-services/fraudtrack

A motor business is being investigated over a "large scale potential fraud" after trading standards officers in Telford noticed a "dramatic increase in complaints", a committee has been told.

Councillors were told that the amount of information that can be released is limited as a Birmingham-based Regional Investigations Team (RIT) is now ‘actively investigating’ the trader.

The RIT takes referrals from local Trading Standards services where a business or trader is causing problems to consumers on a regional or national level,” Telford & Wrekin Council's audit committee heard on Wednesday (May 28).

“Telford Trading Standards noticed a dramatic increase in complaints about a particular motor business, with a total consumer detriment estimated at over £300,000.

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/business/2025/06/01/dramatic-increase-in-complaints-leads-to-investigation-of-potential-300000-motor-fraud-in-telford/

Investment scams saw a 34 per cent increase in losses in 2024 hitting £144.4mn, the first recorded rise since 2021.

The UK Finance Annual Fraud report revealed £1.17bn was lost to fraudsters overall in 2024 with 3.31mn confirmed cases.

Looking at investment scams specifically, cases fell by nearly a quarter in 2024 to 7,767, to the lowest since 2020, however losses were on the rise.

According to UK Finance the fall in cases and rise in losses marked a change in the profile of authorised push payment fraud compared with what it had observed in recent years.

Investment scams accounted for nearly a third of all APP losses last year, the data revealed.

“We noted last year that investment scams linked to cryptocurrencies have been on the rise and with increasing value and popularity, this is likely to be among the drivers of the loss increase in 2024,” the report explained.

UK Finance said it may see an upward revision to the 2024 data on investment scams as the data only reports closed APP cases but the nature of investment scams means it can take longer for some cases to be resolved.

https://www.ftadviser.com/fraud/2025/6/2/investment-scam-losses-hit-144mn-in-2024/

Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala is charged with fraudulent trading as part of an SFO investigation into a company that sold parts for aircraft engines.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has today charged Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala with fraudulent trading as part of its investigation into a company that sold airline parts for the passenger and cargo aircraft engines, the CF56 and CF6.

Zamora Yrala, the company director, is accused of operating UK-based AOG Technics for a fraudulent purpose. The company’s customers included airlines, maintenance providers and parts suppliers.

From 2019 to 2023 the company allegedly defrauded customers by falsifying documentation that related to the origin, status or condition of aircraft parts.

Planes in the UK and elsewhere around the world were grounded in 2023 after the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued safety alerts to airlines that may have bought or installed AOG’s parts.

Soon after, the SFO launched an investigation, later agreeing to conduct a joint investigation with Portuguese authorities into the supply of suspected fraudulent safety certification and parts. The Portuguese investigation is ongoing and last week authorities searched ten locations across Portugal and made three arrests with SFO officers in attendance.

Zamora Yrala will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday 2 June 2025.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sfo-charges-global-aircraft-parts-supplier-with-fraud-offence