Cybercrime

UK law enforcement is failing to use the tools at its disposal, argue Ashley Fairbrother & Rhys Evans

A pioneering cryptoasset recovery case has exposed an arguable failure by UK law enforcement to use powers already available under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Writing in NLJ this week, Ashley Fairbrother and Rhys Evans of Edmonds Marshall McMahon recount how their client, a US citizen duped in a devastating romance fraud, lost nearly $1m after being manipulated by a fake ‘Kensington-based diplomat’

The Law Society has renewed its calls for compensation for legal aid firms affected by the cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency (LAA)

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will invest in technology to catch tech-reliant fraudsters and handle voluminous case materials

AI has transformed the nature of cyber threats & also widened their audience: Jess Chan weighs up systems failures & erosion of trust

A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes

Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, on the rise (and rise) of crypto recovery

Game on for fraudsters? Paul Schwartfeger & Nadia Latti consider civil fraud in platform-controlled digital assets

Digital loot may feel like property, but civil law is not always convinced. In NLJ this week, Paul Schwartfeger of 36 Stone and Nadia Latti of CMS examine fraud involving platform-controlled digital assets, from ‘account takeover and asset stripping’ to ‘value laundering’

Gary Pons, Sarah Wood & Barnaby Hone consider the approach to cryptoassets under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002