Take Five to Stop Fraud – 2026 Update

An annual report from UK finance shows that fraud is once again on the rise. There were over 4 million cases of fraud in 2025 alone and criminals stole a staggering £1.28 billion through payment fraud, showing the scale of the threat and the fact that the problem isn’t going away.

The good news is that you can still take steps to protect yourself, your loved ones, and even your community. The Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign, run by UK Finance, encourages everyone to Stop, Challenge, Protect when dealing with suspicious requests.

Fraud Is on the Rise

Fraudsters are continuing to exploit evolving technology and social behaviours to stay one step ahead. Fraudsters can also take advantage of our instinct to be polite to scam people out of money and information.

The report from UK Finance shows that losses from frauds that frequently originate online, where people are manipulated into making payments for seemingly legitimate goods, services, or opportunities – including purchase, investment, and romance scams – reached their highest levels on record in 2025. This shows that the tactics criminals use are evolving.

Some of the common or fast-growing scams include:

Purchase scams – A purchase scam is when a criminal convinces you to purchase goods or services that doesn’t exist. In 2025, purchase fraud accounted for 71% of all cases. Criminals might create fake websites or clone well-known retailer websites, list fake items online or send you fake invoices and receipts to make the goods or services look genuine (Take Five campaign).
Ticket scams – Ticket scams happen when criminals advertise or sell tickets for concerts, sports events, festivals, theatre shows or other popular events, but the tickets are fake, duplicated or do not exist. They often target people searching for sold-out or high-demand events and may pressure buyers to pay quickly before they have time to check whether the offer is genuine.
Romance scams – A criminal builds a relationship through fake profile before asking for money. They try to gain your trust by appealing to your compassionate side, finding out personal information about you and creating fake stories so it seems like you have a lot in common.
Courier fraud – Courier fraud is a type of impersonation scam where a criminal contacts you unexpectedly and pretends to be from a trusted organisation such as your bank, the police or another official body. The caller then claims there is a problem with your account or there is an investigation they need your help with. They may send a courier to your home to manipulate you into handing over bank cards, cash or other valuables, ask you to post them, or tell you to move money to a so-called ‘safe account’.
Investment scams – Investment fraud happens when criminals manipulate you to invest in something that doesn’t exist. These scams can look convincing, with professional websites, online adverts, social media posts, fake reviews and people pretending to represent legitimate firms. This fraud type cost the UK £221.5 million in 2025, a 40% increase from the prior period (Take Five blog).

How You Can Protect Yourself: Stop, Challenge, Protect

The core advice from the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign led by UK Finance remains simple:

1. STOP
Take a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information. It could keep you safe.

2. CHALLENGE
Ask yourself, could it be fake? It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.

3. PROTECT
Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve been scammed and tell the police at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040.

Extra Tips to Protect Yourself

Remain vigilant – if you receive an unexpected message, call, email or request for money or personal information, stop and think before you act. Ask yourself if the request could be fake. Do not be rushed into making a payment, clicking a link or sharing information.
Don’t let good manners leave you at risk of fraud – new research published by Take Five to Stop Fraud reveals that the instinct to be polite could be leaving millions of people more vulnerable to fraud, with more than half (53%) of UK adults saying they stayed on an unexpected phone call longer than they wanted to in the past year. Fraudsters are experts at exploiting these behaviours (Take Five campaign).
Be careful what you share online – oversharing personal details on social media makes it easier for fraudsters to build convincing scams.
Be aware of scam tactics – with fraud continuing to rise across the UK, it’s more important than ever to stay alert to the tactics criminals use to steal money and personal information. You can find information about scams on the Take Five campaign website.
Educate family members – younger and older generations are often targeted differently. Discuss fraud prevention openly.

Final Thoughts

Fraud can happen to anyone – criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations and the police. By remembering to Stop, Challenge, Protect, you’ll make it much harder for criminals to succeed.

For guidance and resources, visit the official Take Five campaign site.