Exclusive: UK urged to set up National Anti-Fraud Centre to halve crime rate April 7, 2025 The UK government is being urged to set up a National Anti-Fraud Centre to halve the rate of the crime by 2028. Industry body Innovate Finance has launched a blueprint to make the UK the world leader in tackling fraud, and is urging ministers to prioritise cross-sector data sharing and shared liability in a bid [...]
Ancelotti in Spanish court accused of €1m tax fraud April 1, 2025 Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will tomorrow appear in court accused of tax fraud of more than €1m. The 65-year-old former Premier League manager will stand trial in Madrid on charges of defrauding the Spanish tax office to the tune of £836,857 in undeclared earnings from image rights a decade ago. The trial is expected [...]
UK has become the epicentre of WhatsApp scams in Europe April 1, 2025 The UK has become the epicentre of WhatsApp scams in Europe, with British consumers losing more money on the platform than in any other country. Analysis compiled by Revolut revealed that in 2024, WhatsApp fraud accounted for 21 per cent of all reported scams in the UK, with victims losing an average of £2,437 per [...]
City of London and EY call for national digital ID March 27, 2025 The UK risks losing its position as a global financial hub unless it rapidly upgrades its digital verification infrastructure. A new study from EY and the City of London Corporation warned that delays in establishing a government-backed, scalable digital verification system (DVS) could cost the UK billions in economic benefits. Meanwhile, it is increasing businesses [...]
Banks turn to AI to lead fraud prevention efforts March 23, 2025 As Britain’s biggest banks scale up their technology, lenders are turning to AI to fight fraud, a new report has found. NTT Data’s ‘Banking Trends 2025’ report found over half of UK banks thought generative AI was key to fraud prevention. Lenders have been urged to up their consumer protection abilities after Chair of the [...]
Top City analyst cloned in AI deepfake scam March 21, 2025 Michael Hewson – one of the City’s most respected market analysts – was cloned as part of an AI-powered social media scam. A fake video using AI to pose as the host of the Good Money Guide Podcast circulated on Facebook and Instagram this week, attempting to lure users into joining a Whatsapp group. The [...]
UK fintechs sound alarm on spike in organised crime March 19, 2025 Seven in ten UK fintechs said fraud volumes in their business shot up over the last year, according to new research. Alloy’s State of UK Fraud Report stated 79 per cent of UK fintech firms lost at least £500,000 to fraud in the 12 months to October 2024. Two in five recorded losses between £1m [...]
Is Facebook about to fall foul of new fraud laws? March 18, 2025 This week the anti-fraud provisions of the Online Safety Act start to become enforceable. This could mean huge fines for social media firms that break the law by carrying fraudulent content. Yet our investigation shows that Facebook is still carrying numerous adverts for investments that might be seen to break the new law, says Andrew [...]
Lloyds Bank urged to release full HBOS review February 17, 2025 Lloyds Banking Group has been told it must publish a “full copy” of the long-delayed report into the mishandling of the HBOS Reading scandal. Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the Treasury Committee, has backed campaigners’ calls for Lloyds to be transparent in private correspondence obtained by The Times. This follows Lloyds’ pledge to “fulfil any [...]
Crypto fraud surges after Donald Trump’s re-election February 13, 2025 Crypto platforms have been warned the industry is at a “critical juncture” after a Sumsub report showed a spike in fraud cases. The verification platform’s State of the Crypto Industry 2025 said fraud cases were up 48 per cent, with document forgery making up 31 per cent of detected cases in the last year. Following [...]