City calls on tech firms to tackle Britain’s fraud epidemic Tech The City of London Corporation is calling on tech firms to help build a new digital identity verification network, designed to crack down on fraud and reduce the growing costs of financial scams. Under the plans, shared with City AM, consumers would verify their identity once with a trusted provider before reusing those credentials across [...]
Labour hands police ‘long-overdue’ violent shoplifting powers Retail The government has handed the police a set of “long overdue” powers to crack down on soaring levels of violent shoplifting, which has been branded a “national scandal”. The crime and policing bill was granted royal assent on Wednesday, meaning assault against retail workers is classed as a specific offence, and the effective immunity for [...]
‘National scandal’: Record-high shoplifting driven by repeat offenders Retail Shoplifting has been branded a “national scandal” as incidents reach a record high, fuelled by a growing number of repeat offenders. More than 500,000 shoplifting offenses were recorded last year, according to official figures released in response to a parliamentary question by former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith. Fears around the worsening state of [...]
Met Police eyes Palantir to speed crime probes April 23, 2026 London’s most prominent police force is considering a major AI upgrade that could change how crimes are investigated across the capital, and raise concerns about who handles the country’s most sensitive data. The Met Police has reportedly been in talks with the controversial Big Tech Palantir Technologies, according to The Guardian, about deploying its AI [...]
Eight London sites raided in peer-to-peer crypto trading bust April 22, 2026 The City watchdogs, working with HMRC and the Regional Organised Crime Unit, have carried out the first crackdown on illegal crypto trading across multiple London locations. The enforcement targeted eight premises in London suspected of illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The traders were issued cease-and-desist letters at each site, notifying [...]
Sainsbury’s threatens to crack down on shoplifters caught swapping eggs April 18, 2026 UK supermarket giants Sainsbury’s has threatened shoplifters with police action if they are caught swapping premium eggs into cheaper boxes. Sainsbury’s has placed signs in stores telling customers that egg swapping is “regarded as theft”, claiming that any footage of shoplifting would be shared with police. In a picture posted on social media by retail [...]
Financial scams soar as crooks snatch phones and manipulate vulnerable victims April 15, 2026 UK banks saw a staggering rise in financial scams last year, as growing public awareness was offset by criminals pivoting towards victim manipulation to get their hands on sensitive information. Banks reported a 62 per cent rise in social engineering scams, in which attackers manipulate victims into authorising payments themselves, as they turned away from [...]
M&S boss: Sadiq Khan is soft on crime April 3, 2026 Marks and Spencer has hit out at the Mayor of London for being soft on crime, after crowds of young people have targeted London shops in the past week. Thinus Keeve, the supermarket’s retail director, has called on Sadiq Khan to crack down on violent disorder against retailers, after a Marks and Spencer (M&S) shop [...]
FCA hands Palantir sensitive data in AI crime push March 23, 2026 Britain’s financial watchdog is turning to AI to hunt down fraud, raising security questions over who gets to see and use sensitive data. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has awarded Palantir a three-month contract to analyse its internal intelligence systems which notably contain highly sensitive case files, in a bid to sharpen fraud detection. The [...]
Labour MP’s partner among three arrested in China spy probe March 4, 2026 Three men, including a partner of a Labour MP, have been arrested on suspicion of spying for China. The Metropolitan Police revealed on Wednesday that the men, aged 39, 43 and 68, were arrested in London and Wales as part of a counter-terrorism policing investigation under the National Security Act. One of those arrested, David [...]