UK Government’s New Fraud Strategy to Focus on Tech-Enabled Threats

Harnessing emerging technologies such as AI will be the key to tackling threats enabled by the same tech, the government is expected to say as it announces a newly expanded fraud strategy today.

Fraud minister, Lord Hanson, will announce that work has begun on new plans to tackle surging levels of the crime in the UK – although exactly what those plans will contain remain a mystery.

Keynoting at the Global Anti-Scams Alliance (GASA) in London today, he will cite Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures claiming that fraud reports increased by 19% annually in 2024, with a growing share enabled by technology.

National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) figures cited by the National Crime Agency (NCA) claim that “four-fifths of reported fraud are cyber-enabled.”

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

According to a Home Office missive sent to Infosecurity, a big focus for the new plans will be to tap the power of emerging technologies – not only to reduce crime but also to automate more processes, so police and prosecutors spend less time on paperwork.

Improved data sharing between government, law enforcement and industry will also be prioritized, as will global cooperation. The Home Office cited figures claiming 70% of fraud now has an “international element.”

Hanson said the government’s response to fraud must change, as the crime itself has evolved.

“Fraud is an increasingly international enterprise run by some of the most appalling criminal gangs operating in the world today,” he argued. “That’s why we are determined to work with global partners to build a united front to tackle these criminal networks head-on, wherever they are based.”

A New Summit

As part of its efforts, the government announced its support for a Global Fraud Summit to be held in Vienna next year in collaboration with Interpol and the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime.

“Advances in technology, such as AI, have seen online fraud and scams grow in complexity and scale, posing a threat to individuals and organizations alike,” said Interpol secretary general, Valdecy Urquiza. “A unified response is essential, and these summits are an opportunity to bring the various sectors together.”

British law enforcers are making some inroads into the problem. Last week they announced 422 arrests, the seizure of £7.5m in cash and assets and account freezing orders of £3.9m as part of the latest iteration of Operation Henhouse.

However, generative AI (GenAI) is also giving scammers a boost, as nefarious online services lower the barrier to entry for social engineering and other tactics. Dark web mentions of malicious AI tools like FraudGPT surged 200% annually last year, according to a Kela report out yesterday.