AI-enabled investment fraud drives £629m UK fraud losses in H1 2025
Fraud losses in the UK reached £629.3m in the first half of 2025, with investment scams surging 55 per cent as criminals used AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic identities to orchestrate more sophisticated attacks. The majority of fraud originated on social media and telecommunications platforms, prompting calls for government accountability across all sectors.
What happened
In the first half of 2025, fraud losses in the UK reached £629.3m across over 2 million confirmed cases, a 17 per cent increase in cases and 3 per cent increase in losses compared to prior periods. Investment scams surged 55 per cent to £97.7m, now accounting for 38 per cent of total authorised payment fraud (APP) losses, with an average loss over 20 times greater than purchase scams.
UK Finance noted that criminals are using AI to commit more sophisticated, high-volume scams through deepfakes and synthetic identities, with the majority of fraud originating on social media and telecommunications platforms.
Reported impact
Financial losses of £629.3m were stolen by fraudsters in the first half of 2025. APP fraud rose 12 per cent to £257.5m, driven primarily by investment scams.
The City of London Police Authority chair warned that fraud is 'damaging the foundations of our nation'. UK Finance stated the scale of the threat is not commensurate with current government investment in countering it.
Index analysis
Banks prevented £870m of unauthorised fraud through advanced security systems, a 20 per cent increase compared to the first half of 2024. However, this prevention did not offset the rise in authorised payment fraud losses.
Governance controls
UK Finance has called on the government's upcoming Fraud Strategy to ensure all sectors are held accountable in fraud prevention, stating that the financial services industry cannot tackle the threat alone. The trade body has urged the government to hold social media and telecommunications industries to account.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.