More than £15 million lost in Surrey to investment fraud in 2025

Dear resident,

Victims of investment fraud lost an average of £1,675 every minute last year, new figures from the City of London Police, the National Lead Force for Fraud, have revealed. 

Criminals stole £879.8 million through investment fraud last year - an average of £2.4 million a day.

In Surrey, the loss equated to more than £15.9 million.

In 2025, 34,673 people reported investment fraud to Report Fraud, the national service that replaced Action Fraud in December 2025. 

This marks a 31% rise on the previous year, with officers warning that fraudsters are taking advantage of economic uncertainty, volatile markets and increasingly convincing online platforms to lure in victims.

The rise in reporting is not only linked to an increase in investment fraud, but also due to the point at which victims realise what has happened. Reports began climbing steadily from March and spiked in July and September when many people review their investments, move money into new products or check their returns ahead of the new financial year. 

For thousands of victims, it was only at that point that the truth became clear: the investment they were sold never existed. 

In Surrey, losses averaged £29,700 per person, often representing pension savings or long‑term investments. 

Bernadette Lawrie the force’s Financial Abuse Safeguarding Officer said: “With some victims experiencing such high individual losses, investment fraud causes devastating and lasting emotional and financial harm.

“Offenders use highly convincing, high-pressure tactics to create urgency and false trust, and we really urge people to pause and seek independent advice before considering investing.”

Investment fraud last year ranged from bogus online trading platforms to fake bond schemes, cryptocurrency opportunities and glossy social‑media adverts that appeared to feature well‑known public figures.

Fraud reports have highlighted how criminals now deploy AI‑manipulated videos, deepfake endorsements and cloned websites to draw victims in, echoing patterns seen across the wider fraud landscape.

Another growing problem is so‑called “recovery fraud”, where criminals return to previous victims while posing as law enforcement, lawyers or specialist recovery firms. They promise to retrieve stolen money but instead charge upfront fees and disappear. Detectives describe this as one of the most cynical developments in the fraud world, as criminals effectively monetise a victim’s desperation a second time.

Although victims were recorded in every police force area in the UK, the data suggests the picture may be even broader; more than a quarter of people reporting investment fraud did not disclose their location, limiting the ability to map the full spread of cases. 

Older adults, particularly those over 60, remained the most likely to come forward, in part because they are more likely to have significant savings or pension pots invested.

In parallel with these trends, officers have also observed a rise in so‑called “finfluencers” across social media - predominantly young male personalities who boast about making “easy money” on high‑risk trading platforms, particularly those linked to forex and rapid‑turnover investments. 

As part of wider fraud‑prevention work, officers are urging the public to take simple steps to protect themselves.