UK Police Arrest 422 in Major Fraud Crackdown

British law enforcers are celebrating a major haul after arresting hundreds and seizing millions of pounds’ worth of cash and assets in their latest crackdown on fraud.

Coordinated by the National Economic Crime Centre and City of London Police, the fourth iteration of Operation Henhouse ran throughout February, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

It resulted in 422 arrests, the seizure of £7.5m in cash and assets and account freezing orders of £3.9m.

The cash seizure figure represents a 91% increase on last year’s operation, the NCA claimed.

Read more on UK fraud: UK Scam Losses Surge 50% Annually to £11.4bn

Fraud is the most common crime in the UK, accounting for 41% of all reports to the police, and costing an estimated £6.8bn each year in England and Wales, the agency said. Some four-fifths of reported fraud is thought to be cyber enabled.

Among the successes for police this year were:

• The return of nearly £1m by Kent police to an investment scam victim
• The identification of a Cardiff family who are believed to have sold fake, broken or cloned mobile phones on Facebook Marketplace and arranged meetings with victims to intimidate them
• The arrest of a man and four women in connection with a multimillion-pound investment and money laundering operation in Scotland
• The seizure by Merseyside police of more than £2.7m in suspected criminal cash and assets

“Fraud is a truly terrible crime which takes many forms and can affect anyone. We are determined to meet the scale of the issue head-on,” said the UK’s first fraud minister, Lord Hanson.

“The ongoing success of Operation Henhouse demonstrates the excellence of police and law enforcement partners, and the real-world impact of their activity to crack down on this truly pernicious crime. We will continue to work closely with them to highlight the importance of the Stop! Think Fraud campaign, and to introduce a new expanded Fraud Strategy.”

The British government has in the past been criticized for failing to prioritize fraud, even as criminal profits soared.

Experts gave a lukewarm reception to the previous administration’s efforts, announced in 2023. The problem has become so severe that one noted think tank has described it as a threat to national security.