National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre

The University of Nottingham suffered a major cyberattack attributed to ShinyHunters, allowing access to student records that included personal, educational, and financial information. The university took its Campus Solutions system offline for forensic investigation, reported the incident to Action Fraud and the ICO, and warned students to watch for suspicious messages and change passwords. #ShinyHunters #UniversityofNottingham #CampusSolutions #ActionFraud #ICO

Being scammed can feel overwhelming and frustrating, but don’t panic—there are clear steps you can take to get back on track. Here’s a quick, easy-to-follow

Reported losses from hacked email, social media, and other online accounts in Britain rose sharply last year, but police say much of the increase reflects better reporting through the new Report Fraud platform rather than a true surge in attacks. The assessment also shows account hacking remains the largest cyber-dependent crime...

  There has been a worrying rise in the number of people losing control of their social media and email accounts this year. According to recent data from Action Fraud, the UK’s national cybercrime reporting center, over 35,000 cases were reported in 2024. This is a huge increase compared to the 22,000 cases recorded the previous year. To address this growing problem, Action Fraud has teamed up with Meta to start an online safety campaign. Their main goal is to help people secure their accounts by turning on two-step verification, also known as 2FA. This extra security step makes it much harder for hackers to break into accounts. Hackers usually target social media or email profiles for money. Once they gain access, they often pretend to be the real user and reach out to the person’s friends or followers. Many times, they use these stolen accounts to promote fake investment schemes or sell fake event tickets. In other cases, hackers simply sell these hacked accounts to others who use them for illegal activities. One trick commonly used by hackers is messaging the account owner’s contacts and convincing them to share security codes. Since the message appears to come from a trusted person, many people unknowingly share sensitive information, giving hackers further control. Another method involves stealing login information through phishing scams or data leaks. If people use the same password for many sites, hackers can easily access multiple accounts once they crack one. The good news is that there are simple ways to protect yourself. The most important step is enabling two-step verification on all your accounts. This adds an extra barrier by asking for a unique code when someone tries to log in, making it much tougher for hackers to get through even if they know your password. Meta has also introduced face recognition technology to help users recover hacked accounts. Still, experts say prevention is always better than trying to fix the damage later. Here are a few easy tips to protect your online accounts: 1. Always enable two-step verification wherever it is available. 2. Create strong and unique passwords for each account. Avoid using the same password more than once. 3. Be careful if someone you know suddenly asks for a security code — double-check if it’s really them. 4. Stay alert for suspicious links or emails asking for your login details — they could be phishing traps. 5. Keep an eye on your accounts for unusual activity or login attempts from unknown places. With online scams increasing, staying careful and following these safety steps can help you avoid falling victim to account hacks. Taking action now can save you a lot of trouble later.

Fraudster Jeevan Bathula jailed for £50,000 elderly call centre scam. The Durham-based criminal laundered cash, filmed himself with money, and will be deported after his 18-month jail sentence. Learn ...

One woman wants action taken against the sites hosting her stolen photos.

What Happened On 5 May 2026, new data revealed that British romance scam victims were defrauded of a staggering £102 million last year, representing a 29% surge in reported cases.The figures come from information gathered by Report Fraud (f.k.a ActionFraud), which is a City of London Police-run service that logged 10,784 romance scam reports in 2025.According to the data, cybercriminals are reportedly pocketing roughly £280,000 everyday by exploiting online relationships, with individual lo...