How much fraud is there?
The Crime Survey estimates that there were 5.28 million incidents of fraud and computer misuse in England and Wales in the year to March 2026, compared with 4.33 million for all other crime (9.62 million in total).
Million incidents, year to March 2026.
Million incidents on the Crime Survey, 2025-26.
Fraud over time
What’s this?
The number of fraud and computer misuse offences people say they experienced, from the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
What it cannot tell you: Fraud was added to the survey only recently and many frauds go unnoticed or unreported, so the figure is an estimate with wide margins.
What’s this?
The number of crimes people say they experienced, from a survey of about 35,000 adults and children in England and Wales, including fraud and computer misuse.
What it cannot tell you: It counts crimes people remember and report to interviewers, so it misses crimes against children under 10, people not living in households and crimes with no clear victim. There was no survey for the years ending March 2021 and 2022 because of the pandemic, so those years are blank.
Year by year
| Period | Fraud and computer misuse reported to the Crime Survey | Crime reported to the Crime Survey, including fraud | Crime reported to the Crime Survey, excluding fraud |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 5.28 | 9.62 | 4.33 |
| 2024-25 | 4.85 | 9.45 | 4.59 |
| 2023-24 | 4.20 | 8.79 | 4.59 |
| 2022-23 | 4.27 | 8.66 | 4.38 |
| 2019-20 | 4.55 | 10.21 | 5.66 |
| 2018-19 | 4.78 | 11.21 | 6.43 |
| 2017-18 | 4.48 | 10.73 | 6.25 |
| 2016-17 | 5.16 | 11.22 | 6.06 |
Questions people ask
How many people are victims of fraud?
The Crime Survey estimates 5.28 million incidents of fraud and computer misuse in 2025-26. One person can be a victim more than once.
Why is fraud not in the main crime total?
Fraud was added to the Crime Survey only recently, so the long-run series (with 1981 as the start) leaves it out; see crime overall. Many frauds go unreported or unnoticed, so the number is an estimate.
What does “fraud and computer misuse reported to the crime survey” measure?
The number of fraud and computer misuse offences people say they experienced, from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. It was 5.28 (million crimes a year) in 2025-26, up 24% on 2022-23. The highest we have is 5.28 (2025-26) and the lowest 4.20 (2023-24).
What does “crime reported to the crime survey, including fraud” measure?
The number of crimes people say they experienced, from a survey of about 35,000 adults and children in England and Wales, including fraud and computer misuse. It was 9.62 (million crimes a year) in 2025-26, up 11% on 2022-23. The highest we have is 11.22 (2016-17) and the lowest 8.66 (2022-23).
Sources: ONS, Crime in England and Wales (Crime Survey for England and Wales). Updated every night. Each chart has a CSV and a Share button.
See also: Crime overall