Police across the United Kingdom arrested hundreds of suspects and seized ÂŁ7.5 million ($9.72 million) in a sweeping crackdown on fraud, authorities said.
The annual campaign, dubbed Operation Henhouse, took place in February for the fourth consecutive year and led to 422 arrests, according to a statement from the National Crime Agency (NCA). Officers also froze ÂŁ3.9 million ($5.05 million) in accounts, though authorities did not disclose which banks were involved.
Cash and assets worth £7.5 million seized during this year’s operation marked a 91% increase from last year's. Authorities also issued 362 cease-and-desist orders, up 28% from the previous year.
“Fraud is the most prevalent crime in the U.K., causing victims long-lasting emotional and psychological harm as well as financial loss,” the NCA said. Fraud accounts for approximately 41% of all crime reports and costs an estimated £6.8 billion ($8.8 billion) annually in England and Wales alone.
Among those arrested, five suspects in Scotland were detained in connection with a multimillion-pound investment and money laundering scheme. Authorities also returned nearly ÂŁ1 million to a victim who had been targeted in an investment scam.
The U.K. began enforcing key provisions of the Online Safety Act earlier this week in an effort to crack down on cyber fraud and other online crimes, including human trafficking and child sexual abuse.
The new measures require platforms to swiftly remove illegal material flagged by “trusted flaggers” such as law enforcement and regulators, said Helena Wood of Cifas, a U.K. fraud prevention organization. However, she cautioned that the law may not fully prevent scammers from reaching victims.
“Will the Act significantly reduce the level of facilitation of these types of crimes by social media and online platforms? Not necessarily,” Wood said, suggesting that the regulations could be strengthened.
To curb fraudulent investment products, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has worked with Google, Bing, Meta, X (Twitter), and TikTok. As a result, Google implemented a policy that has helped eliminate fraudulent paid advertisements on its platform, said Tommy Handley, senior strategic communications partner for the FCA.
A recent investigation, dubbed Scam Empire, has shed light on the scale and impact of online and phone fraud, uncovering a massive operation run from call centers in Israel, Eastern Europe, and the country of Georgia. The joint investigation, conducted by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Swedish TV (SVT), and 30 other media outlets, revealed that skilled fraudsters lured victims into handing over their life savings for fake investments.
Without stronger protections, U.K. residents remain vulnerable to these networks. Internal transaction records show that one Israeli-European scam network received over $240 million from investors between January 2021 and December 2024, with most victims coming from the U.K., Canada, Spain, Australia, and South Africa.
