About
Helping to stop scams at source
Stop Scams UK is an industry-led collaboration of responsible businesses from across the banking, telecoms and technology sectors who have come together to help stop scams at source. We exist to enable and facilitate the development of technical solutions that will help prevent the harm and loss caused by scams.
Almost all scams will touch on two or more of the banking, technology and telecoms sectors. The work of Stop Scams UK in bringing businesses from across these three key sectors together is crucial in creating the holistic, systemic solutions necessary to keep all of us safe.
Our members
Helping members protect their customers
We are a private sector, not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. Our work is funded by our members, but our approach is sector-neutral. Our small executive team is drawn from a range of backgrounds.
Stop Scams UK has full support from key sector regulators including Ofcom, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Information Commissioner’s Office. Although we are an independent organisation, they value our role in helping to deliver on their aims. We also work closely with the government, but our ambition is to help our members protect their customers well ahead of any legislative and regulatory changes.
Scams in context
We are in the middle of a scams emergency. Scams cause harm and distress to consumers, undermine trust in businesses and economic activity, and are all too prevalent. Both industry and government have struggled to respond to the growth in scams, not least because of the speed with which they have evolved.
We provide resources, leadership and trusted space for our members to share challenges and deliver solutions that help keep individuals and businesses safe from the harm and loss scams cause.
- Fraud is the most commonly experienced crime in the UK (the Crime Survey for England and Wales year ending December 2022).
- We are twice as likely to be a victim of scamming than any other crime. The Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey for the year to March 2023 reported that fraud accounts for 41% of all crimes committed in England and Wales.
- The UK Finance fraud figures for 2022 show that criminals stole £1.2 billion last year, equivalent to £2,300 every minute.
- Losses from Authorised Push Payment Fraud – a type of scam where victims are manipulated by criminals, often through social engineering, into making payments to scammers – remain stubbornly high at £485.2 million, and unauthorised fraud losses were unchanged from last year at £726.9 million.