GeraGuard · Fraud
Consumer and retail fraud
Consumer and retail fraud covers being deceived when buying goods or services — for example paying for items that never arrive, fake online shops, counterfeit goods, or fraudulent "fee owed" and delivery scams.
Quick answer
The ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated 1,091,000 incidents of consumer and retail fraud in year ending March 2025 — about 22.5% of all fraud and computer-misuse incidents that year.
1,091,000
Estimated incidents · Fraud · year ending March 2025
How to protect yourself
- Buy from sellers you can independently verify; be wary of prices that look too good to be true.
- Pay by a method with buyer protection (such as a credit or debit card) rather than a bank transfer.
- Ignore "missed delivery" or "customs fee" texts that link to a payment page — go to the courier's official site instead.
- Keep order confirmations and receipts in case you need to claim a chargeback.
Cut your exposure with GeraGuard
Free Chrome extension. Blocks malicious ads, phishing and trackers before they load.
Install freeFrequently asked questions
How common is consumer and retail fraud in the UK?
The ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated about 1,091,000 incidents of consumer and retail fraud in year ending March 2025 — around 22.5% of all fraud and computer-misuse incidents measured that year.
What is consumer and retail fraud?
Consumer and retail fraud covers being deceived when buying goods or services — for example paying for items that never arrive, fake online shops, counterfeit goods, or fraudulent "fee owed" and delivery scams.
Where does this figure come from?
Office for National Statistics (ONS) — Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), fraud and computer misuse. fraudandcomputermisuseappendixtablesyemarch25final.xlsx (Tables 1 and 2), reference period April 2024 to March 2025, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3). Retrieved 2026-06-27.
Other offence types
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) — Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), fraud and computer misuse. fraudandcomputermisuseappendixtablesyemarch25final.xlsx (Tables 1 and 2), reference period April 2024 to March 2025.
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3) © Crown copyright. Data retrieved: .