History of Fraud in Timeline

Fraud involves intentional deception designed to unlawfully deprive someone of a legal right or unfairly gain something from them. It can be a violation of either civil or criminal law, and can be part of another legal wrong, regardless of causing monetary or property loss. The motivation behind fraud is often financial gain or obtaining benefits like passports or licenses through false statements. Mortgage fraud, for example, involves using false information to qualify for a mortgage.

1911: Blue Sky Laws Adoption

Between 1911 and 1933, 47 states adopted the so-called Blue Sky Laws status, regulating the offering and sale of securities to protect the public from fraud.

1933: Establishment of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt established the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate the stock market and prevent corporate abuses relating to the offering and sale of securities and corporate reporting.

1978: Theft Act 1978

In 1978, laws were enacted relating to obtaining property by deception, obtaining a pecuniary advantage and other offences that were created under the Theft Act.

2006: The Fraud Act 2006

In 2006, the Fraud Act 2006 does not apply in Scotland.

2006: U.S. Government Fraud Review

The U.S. government's 2006 fraud review concluded that fraud is a significantly under-reported crime, and while various agencies and organizations were attempting to tackle the issue, greater cooperation was needed to achieve a real impact in the public sector. The scale of the problem pointed to the need for a small but high-powered body to bring together the numerous counter-fraud initiatives that existed.

2007: Fraud Act 2006 Coverage

Since 2007, fraud in England and Wales and Northern Ireland has been covered by the Fraud Act 2006, which provides a statutory definition of fraud in three classes. A person found guilty of fraud is liable to a fine or imprisonment.

2010: Fraud Statistics

In 2010, a survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimated that organizations lose 5% of their annual revenue to fraud, with a median loss of $160,000. Owner/executive fraud was nine times costlier than employee fraud, and the most affected industries were banking, manufacturing, and government.

2011: Interpretation on Handling Criminal Cases of Fraud

In 2011, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate in China issued an "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of the Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Fraud," defining amounts from 3,000 to 30,000 yuan as "relatively large amount," 30,000 to 500,000 yuan as "large amount," and over 500,000 yuan as "particularly large amount" in accordance with Article 266 of the Criminal Law.

July 2016: National Crime Agency Estimate of Fraud Losses

In July 2016, the National Crime Agency stated that annual losses due to fraud were more than £190 billion, with the anti-fraud charity Fraud Advisory Panel setting business fraud at £144 billon and individuals losing approximately £9.7 billion.

2017: Financial Times Cites Fraud Losses

In 2017, the Financial Times cited a figure of £2.11 billion as losses from fraud.

March 2020: Government's National Strategy Estimate of Fraud Losses

The government's National Strategy set estimated losses from fraud at at least £6.8 billion for the year ending March 2020.

2020: Losses Per Crime

In 2020, 26% of cases reported in the Crime Survey for England and Wales involved no loss. Of those that did, 76% involved losses of less than £500 with a median loss of £150. The average loss for the 875,000 cases sent to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau for potential dissemination to police forces was just over £2,600, with an average loss £7,500 for reports to Action Fraud.

2020: Losses Due to Fraud in 2020

In 2020, in addition to directly reported losses, the Quality Adjusted Life Years approach, costs associated with prevention, loss of productivity by victims, health treatments, and criminal justice processes set the biggest single loss at £1.3 billion while police costs in response to crime were assessed at £0.2 billion.

2021: House of Commons Library Claim on Fraud Costs

In 2021, the House of Commons Library claimed that fraud could cost the UK over £137 billion a year.

2022: Victim Financial Loss

In 2022, in the two thirds of incidents for which victims suffered a financial loss, over three quarters (77%) incurred a loss of less than £250, with the median loss being £79; around 14% incurred a loss of between £250 and £999 and the remaining 9% incurred a loss of £1,000 or more.

2022: Online Fraud Perpetrated by Call Centers

In 2022, the majority of online fraud in the United Kingdom was found to be perpetrated by industrial-scale scamming call centres in Asia.

2023: Authorised Push Payment Fraud Data

Data from fraud using Authorised Push Payment (APP) in 2023 showed that 4.6% of incidents relating to individuals involve amounts over £10,000 and 70% lost less than £1,000. The losses for the 4.6% represented over 13% of the payment transactions and over 60% of total losses.

2023: UK's National Strategy

In 2023, the UK's National Strategy marked a fundamental shift in how the government intended to respond to fraud against individuals. However, the strategy directs a multi-agency approach to fraud, but has been criticised as being poorly formulated to address the characteristics and nature of the crime itself.

2024: Online Publication of Police-Reported Fraud Figures

From 2024, the latest figures for police-reported fraud are published online by the City of London Police's Report Fraud Analysis Services.

2024: Fraud Incident Details

In 2024, fraud incidents in the UK increased with bank and credit account fraud being the most prevalent, followed by consumer and retail, advanced fee, and other fraud types. These latter types formed most of the increase in 2024-25.

2024: Police Referral of Fraud Offences

In 2024, only 2% of the fraud offences recorded by the police were referred to territorial forces for investigation, although the number of fraud offences referred increased by 37% while positive outcomes declined 15%.

2025: UK Government Agencies and Services

As of 2025, the UK has a number of government agencies and services for the detection, prevention and management of fraud, working with a variety of private and public sector bodies to share information and formulate policy. These include the primary enforcement authorities: the National Crime Agency, HM Revenue and Customs, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service, together with agencies such as the UK Financial Intelligence Unit, City of London Police, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, and the National Cyber Crime Unit. The National Economic Crime Centre exists to coordinate the UK’s response to economic crime overall.

2025: Report Fraud Service Replaces Action Fraud

In 2025, the NFIB's operation of the public-facing Report Fraud service replaced their widely-criticised service named 'Action Fraud'.

2025: Fraud Incidents Increase in the UK

In 2025, the UK saw an estimated 4.1 million incidents of fraud, a 14% increase compared with 2024. Around 3 million incidents involved a loss, with victims fully reimbursed in 2.2 million cases.