Fraud represents more than 40% of all recorded crime in the UK, prompting finance professionals to call on technology companies to take a more active role in combating online-enabled scams in the UK.
At the 2025 Economic Crime Congress, UK Finance urged international technology companies to “grasp the scale of the crisis” and work in closer partnership with regulators, law enforcement, and civil society organisations.
Criminals obtained £629.3m ($838.5m) during the first half of 2025, a 3% rise over the same timeframe in 2024, highlighting an “urgent” need for better preventive measures.
While losses continue to climb, with more than two million cases reported so far in 2025, most fraudulent activities originate from social media and telecommunications services rather than banks.
This trend places attention on technology firms as significant players in efforts against economic crime.
Financial institutions now spend around £38bn annually on compliance requirements, much of which is related to anti–money laundering laws instead of directly addressing fraud.
This has resulted in banks shouldering a larger share of both costs and obligations, while technology companies face fewer rules or financial consequences related to online scam prevention.
Industry representatives, lawmakers and enforcement bodies have raised concerns that this situation cannot continue indefinitely.
The current system places a disproportionate burden on banks, even though many scams start on digital platforms operated by technology firms that are subject to relatively limited regulation and accountability.
Discussions at the event included proposals for live data-sharing arrangements, improved identity checks and regulatory changes intended to close gaps in digital platform oversight, user onboarding procedures and automated financial transaction systems that are exploited by offenders.
The nature of fraud is changing rapidly as new tactics emerge, including those using artificial intelligence, impersonation tools and automated methods.
Addressing these evolving risks requires joint responsibility across different sectors.
The overall effectiveness of efforts to reduce fraud will depend increasingly on how well technology companies cooperate with other financial sector participants.
Basware chief product and technology officer Perttu Nihti said: “The warnings from UK Finance underline a hard truth highlights how fraud is no longer a problem that can be tackled by banks alone. At the same time, generative AI is accelerating invoice and payment fraud at an alarming pace.
