UK Account-Hacking Losses Rise as New Reporting System Captures More Cases

Summary

UK police reported £6.3 million in account-hacking losses, but said much of the rise reflects improved reporting through Report Fraud. Account hacking remained the largest cyber-dependent crime category; ransomware may be underreported.

Key points

• Reported losses from hacked online accounts reached £6.3 million, up from £1.2 million the previous year; victims reporting losses rose from 226 to 2,325.
• Police attributed much of the increase to Report Fraud replacing Action Fraud and improving incident recording, cautioning that year-over-year comparisons are less straightforward.
• Report Fraud received 64,608 cyber-dependent crime reports in 2025-26, up 34%; account hacking accounted for 44,355 reports.
• Reported losses across cyber-dependent crimes rose 90% to £14.3 million; the assessment says voluntary reporting captures only a fraction of cybercrime losses.
• Small and medium-sized businesses made up 62% of cases where the organization’s size was known, according to police.
• Ransomware reports fell 25% to 323, but police cautioned that attacks may be underreported through other channels.
• The ICO recorded 452 ransomware-related data breaches between the second and fourth quarters of 2025; the figures measure different things from Report Fraud’s crime reports.

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