Fraud losses top £629M as UK ramps up enforcement

The UK has arrested 557 suspects, frozen £9 million in accounts, and seized £18.1 million in cash and assets during the fifth iteration of Operation Henhouse, a fraud crackdown led by the National Crime Agency and City of London Police, according to Infosecurity Magazine.

Detective Superintendent Oliver Little called this year's effort "a landmark moment" in the fight against both offline and digital fraud. Every police force and regional organised crime unit participated, alongside the Serious Fraud Office, National Trading Standards, and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Wins included blocking 6.5 million calls from six overseas fraud call centers, seizing gold bars, designer goods, and vehicles, and a 19 percent increase in cash seizures. The operation comes as UK Finance reported consumers lost £629 million in the first half of 2025 across 2.1 million fraud cases, two-thirds of which began online. The government recently launched a new fraud reporting service and an Online Crime Centre to disrupt overseas scam compounds.

Written by

Kelley Damore Chief Content Officer CyberRisk Alliance

Kelley Damore is Chief Content Officer at CyberRisk Alliance, where she leads content strategy across the company’s digital brands, research, communities and live events serving CISOs and security practitioners. At CyberRisk Alliance, she is focused on delivering 365-day engagement, trusted journalism and actionable insights to help security leaders navigate an increasingly complex threat landscape.