Govt steps up war on fraud with £250m scam attack

The Government is ratcheting up its attack on scammers, blaggers and spammers with the launch of a new £250m fighting fund, set up to disrupt the gangs behind Britain’s most pervasive crime.

Launching in April, the new Online Crime Centre will bring together specialists from the Government, police, intelligence agencies, banks, mobile networks and major tech firms, including Google and Meta, to drive co-ordinated action against fraud.

It forms part of a new and expanded fraud strategy published today, which sets out how the government will disrupt fraudsters and protect the public – with £250m invested over the next three years in the fight.

In a major upgrade to Britain’s defences, the police and companies that hold vital intelligence on scams will work side by side, sharing data instantly and building a single picture of global fraud networks.

Backed by over £30m in funding, the centre will aim to identify the accounts, websites and phone numbers that organised crime groups rely on, and shut them down at scale – blocking scam texts, freezing criminal accounts, removing scam social media accounts and disrupting operations at source.

It will go after the highest harm offenders, who are responsible for directing international operations to steal from Brits.

The strategy comes as one in 14 adults, and one in four businesses, have become a victim of fraud, costing the economy over £14bn a year. It sets out how the government will shut down the tools criminals exploit, shore up the UK’s defences, and boost support for victims.

Fraud Minister Lord Hanson said: “Fraudsters are exploiting new technology, industrialising their operations and targeting the British public at scale.

“That’s why we’re bringing together the key players in the system – police, intelligence agencies, banks, mobile networks, regulators and tech companies – to shut down the channels scammers rely on, wherever they operate from.

“Our new fraud strategy sets out how we will use every tool at our disposal to disrupt and dismantle criminal operations, bring fraudsters to justice and strengthen protection and support for victims.”

The move follows the rise in overseas scam compounds operating across Southeast Asia, West Africa, Eastern Europe, India, and China – places where fraud is scripted and scaled to target thousands of victims at once.

With figures showing over two-thirds of scams originate from abroad, the Home Secretary will drive global leadership in the fight against scammers at the Global Fraud Summit in Vienna next week.

Agreements with Nigeria and Vietnam to share intelligence to bear down on fraud have already resulted in multiple arrests and scam compounds taken down in the past year. Empowered by the intelligence picture provided by the Online Crime Centre, the Government insists it will relentlessly pursue new opportunities to take out organised crime and partner with countries where fraud targeting the UK is on the rise.

The strategy also sets out how the UK will back law enforcement to deploy artificial intelligence to spot emerging fraud patterns, to stop suspicious bank transfers faster and to use scam-baiting chatbots to trick fraudsters and gather intelligence, before using it to bring them to justice.

National Crime Agency director general of threats James Babbage said: “Over the past 3 years, the NCA has been building a stronger response to fraud. However, the threat will continue to grow globally, and the launch of the Fraud Strategy provides the basis for a further step change in our collective work to protect the UK public from these criminals.

“We have worked intensively with partners to pilot a range of new approaches to fraud and cyber crime: sharing data, stopping and blocking more online crime at source, and helping to design out vulnerabilities through more resilient industry processes. We are looking forward to working with partners across the public and private sectors as part of the new Online Crime Centre to continue this.”