Two new reports underpin the Fraud Strategy 2026-2029

Economic & Social Cost of Fraud 2023–24 estimates a £14.4bn annual impact.

National Assessment Centre Fraud Assessment 2025 highlights the surge in online, cross‑border, AI‑enabled fraud.

Built on three pillars — Disrupt, Safeguard, Respond — the UK is accelerating its fraud‑fighting infrastructure, including:

£31m Online Crime Centre launching April 2026, unifying intelligence, law enforcement and industry to dismantle criminal networks.

Greater action against abuse of telecoms, online platforms and financial systems.

Enhanced resilience for individuals and businesses through targeted guidance and proactive policing.

Stronger victim support and improved investigative and legal powers.

This strategy reflects a long‑overdue reset: a modernised, tech‑driven, partnership‑focused approach to reducing harm and restoring confidence.

https://loupedin.blog/2026/03/disrupt-safeguard-respond-uk-sets-new-fraud-strategy/#page=1

New and expanded fraud strategy sets out how the government will dismantle overseas scam compounds and protect the public from the UK’s most pervasive crime.

Fraudsters will be stopped in their tracks by a new online crime squad, set up to disrupt the gangs behind Britain’s most pervasive crime.

Launching operations in April, the new Online Crime Centre will bring together specialists from the government, police, intelligence agencies, banks, mobile networks and major tech firms 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 £250 million invested over the next 3 years in the fight.

A government crackdown on public sector fraud delivered £7.53 billion in savings for the taxpayer last year. Led by the Public Sector Fraud Authority, an anti-fraud body, it achieved these savings through a focus on prevention, recovery, and enforcement.

By coordinating specialists across government, the initiative aims to identify and dismantle fraud across the public sector, ensuring funds are directed to essential services rather than lost to criminal activity.

https://www.ukauthority.com/articles/data-matching-tools-help-tackle-public-sector-fraud

Graham McNulty has been appointed to lead the Serious Fraud Office as Interim Director.

He will take over from Nick Ephgrave QPM on his retirement at the beginning of April.

Mr McNulty, who joined the SFO as Chief Operating Officer in September 2024, was appointed after a process overseen by the Attorney General’s Office.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/interim-director-appointed-to-lead-the-serious-fraud-office

Romance scammers are posing as savvy investors flaunting fake profits, Nationwide Building Society is warning.

The society said it was seeing criminals moving away from “dramatic emergency pleas” and towards manipulation involving bogus financial opportunities.

It said reported cases of romance scams increased by 5% between 2024 and 2025.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/romance-scammers-shifting-tactics-towards-bogus-investment-schemes/ar-AA1W6Vl8

Collapse of bribery prosecution exposes wider disclosure failings at fraud agency

The UK Serious Fraud Office has dropped its prosecution against former executives of London Mining following a decade-long investigation, after problems emerged with its evidence review software that could impact more than a dozen cases.

The SFO said in a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday that it was offering no evidence and the three defendants in the case were formally acquitted by the judge.

https://www.ft.com/content/0fe2cac3-0794-4bd4-9acb-31b35b463312

The fraud trial linked to the collapse of Patisserie Valerie has been delayed until 2028, just weeks before proceedings were due to begin.

At a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, Judge Adam Hiddleston agreed to postpone the trial of four defendants charged in connection with the failure of the high street café chain, following an application by the defence for more time to prepare evidence.

https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/westmidlands/news/2108212-patisserie-valerie-fraud-trial-delayed-until-2028

The City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud, today announces the full public launch of Report Fraud - a new national service designed to transform how victims and businesses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland report cyber crime and fraud, and how law enforcement and industry respond.

Cyber crime and fraud are now the most common crime in the UK, accounting for around 50 per cent of all offences and costing the economy billions of pounds each year. Cyber-enabled crime and fraud continues to grow in both scale and sophistication, targeting individuals, small businesses and major organisations alike. Report Fraud has been created to meet this challenge head-on, providing a single, modern national gateway for reporting and intelligence that will strengthen the collective response of policing, government and the private sector.

https://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/news/city-of-london/news/2026/january/report-fraud-launches/

The UK government plans to establish a National Police Service—a body already informally dubbed the “British FBI”—that would take responsibility for investigating organised crime, terrorism, fraud and the online exploitation of children. The move would mark one of the most sweeping changes to policing in England and Wales in recent years.

The Home Office is set to announce the creation of the new service on Monday in a dedicated policy document. The reform would abandon the current model, under which investigations into fraud, the activities of organised crime groups and nationwide counterterrorism operations are split across several agencies—including the National Crime Agency and regional units reporting to local police forces.

https://sfg.media/en/a/uk-national-police-service-serious-organized-crime-british-fbi/

Nick Ephgrave QPM, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), will retire at the end of March.

The decision comes after 38 years serving the public, holding senior roles in UK law enforcement, with the Metropolitan and Surrey police forces as well as the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sfo-director-announces-retirement