Why Is the United Kingdom Such a Prime Target for Scammers—and What’s Being Done About It?

Unfortunately, the honest answer is: not nearly enough. As a nation, we aren’t doing as much as we should to shield ourselves from online fraud, and people across the United Kingdom continue to be a top target for scam operations run by criminals around the world.

In this article, we share our unique perspective on the factors that make individuals in the UK particularly attractive to scammers. Digitrace works at the frontline—disrupting, investigating, and helping to prevent scams before they spread. While government reporting platforms can provide statistics on the volume and types of scams being logged, our team is often several steps ahead of those public reports. For years, Digitrace has been among the first to detect and raise the alarm about new digital threats emerging online.

Why the United Kingdom Is a Key Target for Scammers

The UK is a financially attractive country

Even if it doesn’t always feel that way—especially with inflation, rising rents, higher mortgage rates, and increasing day-to-day costs—the United Kingdom is still considered a wealthy nation on the global stage.

For many people across the UK, the squeeze on living expenses has been tough, but to international scammers, the average UK resident is still viewed as someone with disposable income or savings worth targeting. This perception alone makes the country a prime focus for fraudsters looking for easy financial gain.

Yes, the UK’s overall wealth plays a role—but it’s far from the only reason we’re seeing such an intense surge in scam activity. These days, almost everyone knows a friend, colleague, or family member who has been targeted or conned in some way. Our financial status is just one piece of the puzzle. There are several additional factors that make the United Kingdom particularly appealing to scammers, and wealth alone doesn’t explain the scale of the problem.

We Tend to Be Trusting

People in the United Kingdom have traditionally been fairly trusting, but that trust has taken a hit. With more and more UK residents falling victim to online investment scams, fake job offers, and fraudulent “asset recovery” schemes, confidence in unfamiliar organisations has understandably declined. Many individuals now hesitate to engage with anyone they can’t meet in person or any business without a physical, verifiable presence. That instinct comes from experience—our trust has been taken advantage of, and scammers have exploited it time and time again.

Law Enforcement’s Response and Our International Reputation

A major reason the United Kingdom continues to be heavily targeted by scammers is the limited response victims often receive from law enforcement. For years, there has been a noticeable gap in support, expertise, and resources when it comes to investigating fraud—especially cases involving overseas offenders. While it’s true that local police forces have little to no jurisdiction outside the UK, the overall system still needs significant improvement.

To put things into perspective, consider the United States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) routinely pursues international scammers when an American citizen is conned. They don’t just focus on building charges—they actively work to recover stolen funds as well. Their reputation for following through is strong enough that many scammers simply avoid targeting US victims altogether. Unfortunately, the UK does not hold the same deterrent power. Criminals know the chances of being pursued—or forced to return stolen money—are slim, making people in the United Kingdom far more appealing as targets.

In one of our previous investigations, we uncovered a fraudulent website that had stolen millions from a victim in the United Kingdom. When our team attempted to visit the site using a US-based IP address, we were immediately blocked—clear evidence that these scammers actively avoid attracting the attention of the FBI. Yet when it comes to targeting people in the UK, they show no hesitation at all.

In contrast, German authorities have made significant strides in recent years. Their police forces have conducted large-scale raids on boiler rooms, arrested offenders, and made it clear that Germany is not an easy target. Word of this has spread within scam networks. In fact, intelligence shared directly with us indicates that some criminal groups struggled to find German-speaking scammers because the risks of operating in that region had grown too high.

If UK law enforcement doesn’t adopt a similarly proactive approach—pursuing overseas scammers, conducting coordinated actions, and enforcing consequences—then fraudsters will continue to treat people in the United Kingdom as low-risk, high-reward victims.

The United Kingdom needs to rethink how scam cases are handled. At the moment, many victims feel that reporting a scam is almost pointless. The process is overwhelming, the chances of recovering lost funds are extremely low, and police are often unable to take action when offenders are operating overseas.

Below is an example of the type of email response scam victims commonly receive after lodging a report through the government’s cybercrime portal. These are direct excerpts that individuals in the UK have been sent by police:

“Crypto-currency owners cannot be directly identified, although all transactions are publicly visible on the blockchain.”

“Unfortunately, the [region redacted] Police Service is not able to establish who currently controls your cryptocurrency assets.

”“Because the individuals involved are located overseas and fall outside the jurisdiction of the [region redacted] Police Service—and given the inherently anonymous nature of cryptocurrency—there are no viable investigative pathways or realistic prospects of recovering your funds.”

Out of respect for the police force referenced in the earlier quotes, we’ve chosen to remove the specific region. However, this type of response is something we’ve seen repeatedly across multiple police services.

And frankly, it isn’t good enough. There are effective ways to pursue scammers, and we can confidently say so because this particular police force is already aware that cryptocurrency tracing can help identify who controls stolen funds. When crypto assets are followed through the blockchain, there is often a genuine opportunity to pinpoint the wallets—and sometimes even the individuals—holding the victim’s money.

The automated rejection email also assumes the offenders are located overseas. Yet we’ve seen this message sent to victims before any investigation has taken place. In online fraud cases, the perpetrator could be anywhere in the world. Until proper enquiries are made and a suspect is identified, there is no factual basis for assuming the scammer is operating outside the UK. Without investigating, no one can know where the offender actually is.

In fact, we’ve seen another police force respond with the following statement:

“Any evidence or information gathered by a third-party agency you’ve engaged to assist with cryptocurrency recovery cannot be used by the [region redacted] Police Service.”

Digitrace was the first company in the United Kingdom to offer cryptocurrency tracing services directly to the public. Our tracing reports have been used by police forces across the UK and internationally to help identify those behind crypto-related scams. Fortunately, many police agencies still recognise the value of the evidence we provide, despite automated responses that suggest otherwise.

When we first began offering crypto tracing, most law enforcement agencies had little understanding of how it worked—or how it could be used to pursue scammers. We invested significant time working closely with police across all regions, educating them on the process, explaining how to interpret tracing results, and guiding them on how to act on those findings—such as contacting cryptocurrency exchanges where victims’ funds had been withdrawn.

Now, unfortunately, the narrative has shifted. The response many victims receive is: we won’t investigate, we won’t trace the funds, and we won’t accept crypto tracing results from a private agency. It’s no surprise that scam victims across the UK feel abandoned—left with little to no support from law enforcement or government agencies that should be helping them fight back.

We recognise that if a scammer is operating from another country, local police services in the UK have limited power to act. However, there should be a clear process in place for these cases to be escalated—first to the National Crime Agency (NCA) or relevant national-level units, and then, where appropriate, forwarded to international partners who can take action.

In several of our past cases, the investigation reports and evidence we produced were passed on to INTERPOL so that efforts could continue across borders. This type of cooperation is essential if the UK wants to effectively combat scammers operating overseas.

Finally, Some Positive Developments

We’ve already talked a lot about the gaps in support and the lack of meaningful action for scam victims in the UK. But as the scale of the problem grows—and as media coverage increases—the landscape is slowly starting to shift. A few encouraging changes are beginning to take shape.

In addition, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been stepping up efforts to remove fraudulent websites since 2023, targeting platforms that impersonate legitimate companies or promote illegal investment schemes.

In a media announcement released by the NCA on 28 August 2024, authorities revealed Operation Firestorm—and this is the kind of news that genuinely gives us hope. Operation Firestorm isn’t just a great name; it represents a serious, coordinated effort to target scam networks and protect people in the United Kingdom from financial loss and exploitation. If national agencies continue to take initiatives like this seriously, we may finally begin to see a shift in how scammers view the UK as a target.

So yes—there are positive developments emerging across the UK. But there’s still a long way to go. As we’ve said for years, greater cooperation between the private sector and government agencies is essential if we want to make meaningful progress in the fight against online fraud.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, or ideas on what changes the United Kingdom needs to better protect its residents from scams. Feel free to share your comments below or contact us directly at support@digitrace.site