With ransomware incidents reaching 1,000 in 2023 and phishing attacks rising to 300 million targeted emails that same year, UK cyber crime is moving fast and hitting at scale. At the same time, fraud reports keep stacking up with Action Fraud recording 843,000 fraud reports in 2023 and the ICO logging 2,200 data breach reports in Q1 2023, alongside losses that run into the hundreds of millions.
Key Takeaways
- Online banking fraud losses reached £459.5 million in 2022
- Authorised push payment (APP) fraud totalled £485 million in 2022, affecting 132,000 victims
- £250 million was lost to investment scams in the first half of 2023
- Data breaches reported to ICO reached 2,200 in Q1 2023
- British Airways data breach in 2018 affected 400,000 customers
- 88% of data breaches involved human error or phishing
- Action Fraud received 765,318 reports of fraud and cyber crime in 2022/23
- 78% of cyber crimes reported to police in 2023 were fraud-related
- London saw 150,000 cyber fraud reports in 2022
- 14,500 arrests for cyber crime in 2022/23 by UK police
- NCA seized £150 million in cyber crime assets in 2023
- 1,200 cyber crime prosecutions by CPS in 2022
- Phishing emails targeting UK users increased by 61% to 300 million in 2023
- Malware detections in the UK hit 500 million instances in 2022
- 40% of UK phishing attacks impersonated banks
In 2022 and 2023, UK cyber and fraud losses soared past £1.2 billion, driven by scams and phishing.
Related reading
01 · Category
Financial Losses15 stats
01
Online banking fraud losses reached £459.5 million in 2022
02
Authorised push payment (APP) fraud totalled £485 million in 2022, affecting 132,000 victims
03
£250 million was lost to investment scams in the first half of 2023
04
Romance scams defrauded victims of £74 million in 2022/23
05
Purchase scams accounted for 37% of all fraud reports to Action Fraud in 2023, with losses over £100 million
06
Fraud losses totalled £1.2 billion from APP scams in 2022
07
Ticket scams cost UK public £7.2 million in 2023
08
Crypto scams defrauded 2,500 victims of £200 million in 2022/23
09
Email compromise scams lost businesses £50 million in 2023
10
CEO fraud averaged £100,000 per incident in UK firms
11
Authorised push payment fraud losses were £570 million in 2023 H1
12
Lottery scams stole £5 million from 1,000 victims in 2023
13
Grant scams cost £15 million amid cost-of-living crisis
14
Rental scams affected 8,000 prospective tenants, £12m loss
15
Job scams reported 25,000 times, £30m stolen
Interpretation
Financial Losses Interpretation
In a staggering and depressingly creative act of national redistribution, the UK's cybercriminals have become the unregulated bank of Britain, using romance, fear, and a fake ticket to the big game to efficiently move over a billion pounds from our accounts into theirs.
02 · Category
Hacking and Data Breaches15 stats
01
Data breaches reported to ICO reached 2,200 in Q1 2023
02
British Airways data breach in 2018 affected 400,000 customers
03
88% of data breaches involved human error or phishing
04
Marriott breach leaked 339 million guest records including UK customers
05
500,000 UK records exposed in 2023 MOVEit breach
06
ICO received 8,800 data breach notifications in 2022/23
07
LinkedIn data scrape exposed 92% of UK users' data in 2021
08
1.5 million records stolen in Capita breach 2023
09
SQL injection caused 30% of web app breaches in UK
10
Electoral register data of 40 million Brits leaked online 2023
11
Experian breach 2017 exposed 15m UK records
12
400,000 pension records hacked in 2023
13
DDoS attacks downed 1,000 UK sites daily in 2023
14
Zero-day exploits used in 20% of breaches
15
Twitter API breach leaked 200m user emails incl UK
Interpretation
Hacking and Data Breaches Interpretation
Despite a daily deluge of digital disasters, from pension pots to passport numbers, the UK's cyber security reality remains stubbornly human, where a single click often opens the floodgates for millions.
03 · Category
Incident Reports15 stats
01
Action Fraud received 765,318 reports of fraud and cyber crime in 2022/23
02
78% of cyber crimes reported to police in 2023 were fraud-related
03
London saw 150,000 cyber fraud reports in 2022
04
1 in 2 UK adults were targeted by phishing in 2023, leading to 400,000 reports
05
Ransomware incidents reported to the NCSC rose to 1,000 in 2023
06
843,000 fraud reports to Action Fraud in 2023
07
Cyber-dependent crimes made up 20% of total crime in 2023
08
Scotland reported 45,000 cyber crimes in 2022/23
09
Northern Ireland cyber fraud up 15% to 20,000 cases
10
Wales saw 60,000 online fraud incidents in 2023
11
West Midlands Police logged 80,000 cyber crimes
12
Greater Manchester cyber fraud up 25% to 70,000 cases
13
South Yorkshire reported 30,000 phishing incidents
14
Avon and Somerset saw 25% rise in BEC scams
15
Merseyside cyber crime reports hit 40,000
Interpretation
Incident Reports Interpretation
These numbers paint a bleak but clear picture: the UK is in a state of digital siege, where every other inbox is a trap, every region is a battlefield, and our collective online life is now the criminal's primary hunting ground.
04 · Category
Law Enforcement Actions15 stats
01
14,500 arrests for cyber crime in 2022/23 by UK police
02
NCA seized £150 million in cyber crime assets in 2023
03
1,200 cyber crime prosecutions by CPS in 2022
04
Operation Power OFF disrupted 50 cyber gangs in 2023
05
£10 million invested in National Cyber Crime Unit in 2023
06
Metropolitan Police arrested 2,000 for cyber offences in 2023
07
£250 million frozen in fraud accounts by PSR in 2023
08
300 convictions for computer misuse act violations
09
Europol-led Op Guardian dismantled 20 UK cyber rings
10
NCCU identified 100 priority cyber criminals in 2023
11
City of London Police recovered £50m for victims
12
500 international arrests via NCA extraditions
13
Computer Misuse Act charges up 40% to 1,500
14
Op Falcon nabbed 100 mule accounts holders
15
£5m funding for cyber crime victim support 2023
Interpretation
Law Enforcement Actions Interpretation
Even with over 14,500 arrests and £150 million seized, the UK's cyber crackdown feels like a high-stakes game of whack-a-mole, where for every 50 gangs disrupted and £250 million frozen, there's another priority criminal being identified and another million needed for victim support.
More related reading
05 · Category
Phishing and Malware15 stats
01
Phishing emails targeting UK users increased by 61% to 300 million in 2023
02
Malware detections in the UK hit 500 million instances in 2022
03
40% of UK phishing attacks impersonated banks
04
Spear-phishing attacks on businesses rose 20% to 50,000 cases in 2023
05
Android malware targeting UK users saw 150,000 samples in 2023
06
Vishing calls targeted 70% of UK businesses in 2023
07
Smishing SMS attacks up 300% to 100,000 in UK 2023
08
Keyloggers detected in 20,000 UK devices monthly
09
Business email compromise via malware hit 5,000 firms
10
Emotet malware variant infected 10,000 UK systems in 2023
11
QR code phishing (quishing) up 500% in UK 2023
12
Credential stuffing attacks hit 1 billion logins
13
Spyware infections rose 30% to 50,000 cases
14
Fake parcel delivery phishing topped 200,000 reports
15
Adware affected 15% of mobile devices
Interpretation
Phishing and Malware Interpretation
The UK's digital landscape in 2023 was a masterclass in unwelcome innovation, where criminals, not content with merely phishing 300 million inboxes, decided to also smish, quish, and vish their way through every conceivable channel, proving that if you build a better digital mousetrap, the mice will just use a billion stolen logins to jimmy the lock.
06 · Category
Ransomware15 stats
01
72% of UK organisations faced ransomware attacks in 2023
02
NHS England suffered 1,675 ransomware-linked email attacks in 2022
03
Average ransomware payout in UK was £500,000 in 2023
04
65% of ransomware victims paid the ransom, recovering only 60% of data
05
Public sector ransomware incidents doubled to 200 in 2023
06
LockBit ransomware claimed 40% of UK attacks in 2023
07
Education sector hit by 25% of ransomware, costing £20 million recovery
08
Conti ransomware group extorted £10 million from UK victims
09
50% of ransomware attacks used double extortion tactics
10
Manufacturing sector paid average £1 million ransom in 2023
11
BlackCat ransomware extorted £5m from UK healthcare
12
40% recovery time post-ransomware averaged 24 days
13
Hive ransomware disrupted 30 UK councils
14
Ransom demands averaged £600,000 for SMEs
15
70% of victims backed up data, reducing payouts 50%
Interpretation
Ransomware Interpretation
The data paints a grimly efficient picture: British organizations are now virtually guaranteed to be held for digital ransom, with our critical services and industries funding the very criminal enterprises that disrupt them, all while discovering that paying up is a costly and disappointingly partial solution.
07 · Category
Trends and Overall Statistics5 stats
01
In 2023, cyber crime accounted for 41% of all police-recorded crime in England and Wales
02
Action Fraud reported 800,000 cyber crime incidents in 2022/23, marking a 6% increase from the previous year
03
The cost of cyber crime to the UK economy was estimated at £27 billion in 2023
04
52% of UK businesses experienced a cyber attack in 2023, up from 31% in 2022
05
Phishing attacks rose by 148% in the UK during 2022
Interpretation
Trends and Overall Statistics Interpretation
The digital realm has become Britain's most prolific crime scene, where nearly half of all police reports now involve a keyboard, phishing emails are multiplying like digital rabbits, and the annual bill for this virtual crime wave is a staggering twenty-seven billion pounds, proving that the most expensive things in the UK aren't just castles and crowns, but also clicks and cons.
08 · Category
Victim Demographics14 stats
01
18-24 year olds made up 22% of cyber crime victims in 2022
02
Women represented 52% of romance scam victims, losing average £8,500 each
03
Over-65s lost £35 million to scams in 2023, averaging £10,000 per victim
04
Small businesses (under 50 employees) comprised 43% of cyber breach victims
05
30% of cyber crime victims were from deprived areas in England
06
25-34 year olds were 28% of victims, averaging £3,500 loss
07
Ethnic minorities over-represented at 25% of victims despite 14% population
08
Self-employed victims lost £150 million in 2023
09
Rural victims reported 10% higher scam rates
10
Men aged 35-44 were 18% of victims
11
Londoners 40% more likely to be scammed
12
Charities lost £10m to cyber fraud
13
Students comprised 15% of victims, £5m loss
14
Disabled adults 2x more likely to be targeted
Interpretation
Victim Demographics Interpretation
While the digital age offers a buffet of opportunity, it serves up a particularly grim special for the young and lovelorn, ruthlessly targets the wisdom and savings of our elders, disproportionately impacts the small, the self-made, and the already vulnerable, and proves that geography, wealth, and background are no defence against a predator with a keyboard.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Helena Kowalczyk. (2026, February 13). Cyber Crime Uk Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/cyber-crime-uk-statistics
MLA
Helena Kowalczyk. "Cyber Crime Uk Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/cyber-crime-uk-statistics.
Chicago
Helena Kowalczyk. 2026. "Cyber Crime Uk Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/cyber-crime-uk-statistics.
Sources & references
60 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
akamai.com