UK account-hack losses surge as new reporting system exposes hidden cases

UK account-hack losses surged by 417% over the last financial year, driven by a new reporting system designed to capture more data. While reported losses reached £6.3 million ($8.5 million), police caution that this represents a small fraction of actual cybercrime due to underreporting. The shift to the Report Fraud system has led to a significant increase in reported cyber-dependent crimes, including hacking, resulting in £14.3 million ($19.3 million) in losses.

Report Fraud was designed to collect more useful information from victims and the private sector, allowing police to identify patterns and give law enforcement and other agencies a clearer picture of a crime problem that has long been considered underreported. Unlike its predecessor, Action Fraud, the new system aims to address the historical issue of underreporting by encouraging more comprehensive data collection.

The assessment notes that hacking and fraud can be recorded separately even when they are part of the same incident. A victim whose email account is compromised and then used to facilitate a scam may report the fraud without knowing the account was hacked, meaning the financial loss is recorded under the fraud rather than the initial compromise.

Separate figures from the Information Commissioner’s Office recorded 452 ransomware-related data breaches between the second and fourth quarters of 2025. Although the datasets ultimately derive from the same criminal activity, they measure different things — the ICO records data protection breaches, while Report Fraud records crime reports — again complicating a direct comparison.

Back in 2023, British authorities said they were "increasingly concerned" that ransomware victims in the country are keeping incidents secret. "If attacks are covered up, the criminals enjoy greater success and more attacks take place," the National Cyber Security Centre said at the time.

Organizations accounted for 2,271 cybercrime reports. Where the size of the organization was known, small and medium-sized businesses made up 62% of cases. Police said smaller firms often have fewer resources for cybersecurity and can also be used as a route into larger companies through suppliers and other business relationships. Proposals in Britain to introduce mandatory reporting of ransomware attacks and payments are currently stalled following a government consultation last year.