UK loses 1.6 billion dollars to fraud as criminals run millions of scams worldwide

Cyber-enabled fraud is rising globally and is the main driver of international money laundering, according to a Paris-based anti-money laundering body in its latest report. 

Currently, 156 countries classify scams as a major financial crime risk. Cyber-enabled fraud is one of the most “widespread and damaging profit-motivated crimes today, generating large volumes of illicit proceeds through the exploitation of victims around the world,” the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) stated.

The watchdog attributed the increasing threat of cyber fraud to common digitalization and technological advancements which have “expanded the scale, speed, and complexity” of modern fraud. These elements have allowed criminals to exploit digital platforms and instant payment systems, especially using their borderless nature to move money quickly across countries and continents.

"As fraudsters continue to adapt and accelerate their scams, we need to keep pace to safeguard people’s money and protect victims from the effects of damaging losses,” said FATF President, Elisa de Anda Madrazo.

The impact is being strongly felt in major financial centers. In the United Kingdom, fraud now makes up over 40% of all reported crimes, while Singapore has observed a 61% increase in scam cases within just two years. In the United States alone, the FATF estimates that public losses from these schemes have climbed to tens of billions of dollars.

OCCRP previously reported that in 2024 alone, the U.K. banking industry lost 1.17 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) to fraud last year, as criminals conducted more than 3.3 million scams, according to data from UK Finance.

The cyber scams industry has turned into a borderless threat, with the high occurrence of global call center scams. In March 2025, OCCRP published Scam Empire, an investigation revealing how criminal call centers use fake investment schemes to target thousands of victims worldwide, uncovering the inner workings of these large-scale operations.