Increasingly elaborate investment scams involving gold, cryptocurrencies and wine have soared in the past year with more than £220m lost to the fraud, according to a report.
UK banks reported almost 15,000 investment scams in 2025 as criminals use artificial intelligence to dupe people out of their money.
About £221.5m was lost to scams in which people were persuaded to move their money to a fake investment or a fictitious fund, a rise of 40% from the year before, according to the report from UK Finance.
This particular fraud is popular among criminals as it often has high returns, according to Ruth Ray, the trade body’s managing director for economic crime. Advances in AI means it is easier to carry out scams on a much larger scale than previously.
Typically, criminals will promise high returns on investments that could range from gold, property and carbon credits to cryptocurrencies…
Be wary of “too good to be true” investment opportunities found on Facebook or Telegram that promise guaranteed returns, as these are almost always Ponzi or “Pig Butchering” schemes.