Financial scams soar as crooks snatch phones and manipulate vulnerable victims Personal Finance 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 [...]
FCA hands Palantir sensitive data in AI crime push Tech 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 [...]
FCA chief clashes with investment industry on over-reliance Investing The investment industry must stop being over-reliant on regulators and solve their own problems in order to make investors less risk averse and boost economic growth, the financial watchdog has said. Speaking in an interview with City AM, Simon Walls, interim executive director of markets at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), argued that despite the [...]
The relentless rise of unregulated finfluencers March 16, 2026 Accessing financial advice used to be out of reach for many. But now, it’s on your commute, at the bus stop, and most dangerously, in your pocket. Get out your phone, open any social media app, and you’ll see a young man or woman, backlit by a ring light holding a pocket microphone, promising to [...]
Odey described as a ‘sex pest’ by former hedge fund chief executive, court told March 10, 2026 Disgraced hedge fund manager Crispin Odey was called a “sex pest” and a “sociopath” by former Odey Asset Management chief executive, a court was told on Tuesday. Tim Pearey said in an interview with the Financial Conduct Authority: “I think he’s a sex pest I’m afraid… I think he’s got a real problem. “I think [...]
On this day: The collapse of Barings Bank February 26, 2026 On 26 February 1995, 31 years ago today, Baring Bank, one of the City’s most venerable institutions, was declared insolvent after a massive fraud by one of its employees, Nick Leeson, recalls Eliot Wilson In the 1990s, following the wake of Big Bang and the influx of brash but wealthy, “Greed is good, greed is [...]
Nationwide hit with fine after failing to flag Covid furlough fraud December 12, 2025 Nationwide had been slapped with a £44m fine by the City watchdog for failures in its financial crime controls. The building society giant has been blasted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for missing opportunities to identify fraudulent Covid furlough payments. The FCA said one customer received 24 payments, totalling north of £27m, over 13 [...]
Why your mobile phone is now more valuable than your passport December 8, 2025 Partner content, in association with NOTO. A £6 trillion global financial cybercrime epidemic is being fought with technology that in some cases predates the smartphone, leaving financial institutions and consumers exposed, an expert has warned. Chris Thomas, Chief Revenue Officer at NOTO, a company providing next generation technology to combat financial crime, highlighted that the [...]
How money laundering took over our high streets November 13, 2025 American candy stores and vape shops are the new face of financial crime, hiding in plain sight, says Marit Rodevand Walk down almost any British high street today and you’ll see them: neon-lit candy stores selling purportedly “American” sweets, vape shops and barbers with a faded poster of Cristiano Ronaldo taped to the window. Superficially, these [...]
Brits swindled out of thousands by unregulated online financial advice October 29, 2025 People have lost thousands of pounds after acting on advice from online unverified sources, despite industry figures warning that their guidance can be misleading or incorrect. Over 40 per cent of Brits admitted to taking advice from online sources, including ‘finfluencers’ and chatbots, without first verifying its legitimacy, according to the latest data from fintech [...]