UK Launches New Crackdown Unit to Tackle Cyber-Fraud at the Source

**Executive summary:** The UK Home Office and National Crime Agency will launch an Online Crime Centre to coordinate government, intelligence, police, banks, mobile networks and tech firms to disrupt large-scale fraud operations—identifying and shutting down scam accounts, websites and phone numbers, blocking scam texts, freezing criminal accounts, and using AI (including ‘scam-baiting’ chatbots) to detect and frustrate scammers—while also introducing a fraud victims charter and enhanced support; the strategy targets cyber-enabled fraud estimated to cost the UK about £14bn annually.