Efforts to tackle fraud are rising to the top of public and private sector agendas. The UK government recently launched its Fraud Strategy 2026-2029, a three-pillar approach to disrupting criminal activity, protecting consumers and supporting victims.
Meanwhile, representatives from around the world convened at the Global Fraud Summit in Vienna this week to coordinate on international anti-fraud strategies.
These initiatives however, are set against a stark reality: the growth of financial crime continues to outpace efforts to contain it. A new report from Nasdaq Verafin, Nasdaq’s financial crime management technology business, shows that the estimated value of global financial crime surged to $4.4 trillion in 2025, up from $3.1 trillion in 2023.
The UK stands out as a financial crime hotspot compared to European peers, and its financial institutions are on the front line of defence against such illicit activity.
The value of bank fraud losses is estimated to be three times that of Germany, and one and a half times that of France.
Similarly, losses from consumer and business fraud, which includes investment, confidence and impersonation scams, as well as phishing attacks, is two and half times that of France, and one and a half times that of Germany.
Several factors likely contribute to this. London’s role as a major financial hub is one, with cross-border criminal networks eager to exploit a well-recognised and reputable international financial system that has the City of London at its heart. Language and time zones also matter: English-speaking scam centre workers in Asia are well-placed to target British victims during working hours.
The UK’s advanced technological and regulatory landscape may also inadvertently play a role. With world-class faster payment networks, fraudsters may be attracted by the prospect of swift returns, particularly through authorised push payment (APP) scams where victims are deceived into transferring funds themselves. These crimes can be executed more quickly in the UK than in countries with less developed payments infrastructure.
New consumer protection rules may also create new first-party fraud risks. Since late 2024 UK APP fraud victims are entitled to compensation from their banks. This raises the possibility, though evidence remains limited, that fraudsters could collaborate to both initiate fraudulent transfers and subsequently claim compensation.
What dwarfs these issues globally however is the rapid proliferation of AI, which is supercharging the scale and sophistication of criminal networks targeting the UK. Ninety per cent of financial crime professionals surveyed for the Nasdaq Verafin report say they have noted a rise in AI-driven attacks at their institution in the last two years.
Advances in technology are allowing fraudsters to target victims with highly personalised tactics, from deepfake videos to real-time adaptive scripts.
Gone are the days of a typo-strewn email from a foreign prince promising vast riches, replaced by deepfake footage of family members pleading for emergency funds after a missed flight.
AI is also helping criminals scale these kinds of scams with alarming speed and sophistication. Mass fraud attacks that are nevertheless highly-tailored are becoming far quicker and easier to perpetrate, growing the pool of victims and increasing the overall value of losses.
Despite the concerning landscape, there is reason for optimism, and momentum towards action. The launch of the UK fraud strategy is a great step forward and recognises factors which must be core to anti-fraud strategies.
First is the central role of data. Fragmented, siloed data leaves institutions effectively operating in the dark. Greater visibility across banks and borders is crucial for detecting and disrupting illicit flows.
The second is the need for closer collaboration across governments, regulators, law enforcement and business sectors. Global financial crime is dispersed across vast criminal networks in multiple continents. Our response must recognise this complexity. Coordinated multi-state operations are already seeing organised scam centres dismantled across southeast Asia, while government collaboration with big tech on projects like deepfake detection frameworks is a good example of the types of joint initiatives that will help head off emerging threats.
AI will also be a vital part of the solution. While it is generating new threats it also presents an opportunity for quicker, smarter detection of suspicious activity.
Agentic AI capabilities can also shoulder high volume tasks, freeing up banks’ financial crime professionals to focus on more complex threats. Financial institutions recognise this and say they are investing significantly in new AI capabilities.
To defeat financial crime networks we must be prepared to outpace their coordination, ambition and their use of AI. Action from the UK government is a meaningful step in the right direction, but lasting progress will depend on an international collaborative approach, underpinned by smart use of data and technology with better intelligence sharing to turn the tide on the epidemic of modern financial crime.
Kamlesh Harry is Principal Strategic Advisor at Nasdaq Verafin
