Londoners ‘most likely to be targeted by online or text scams’ | #RomanceScam

Londoners are more likely to be targetted by scam emails and texts than anyone else in the UK, according to new research.

It found that 78% of Londoners had received suspected scam emails or texts compared with a national average of 71%.

Almost a quarter said the text or the links in the scam messages they received included a brand name that they were familiar with, according to the findings from the Global Signal Exchange (GSE), a global scam busting alliance described as a “cross-sector clearing house for threat signals.”

A similar proportion said if they got a message from a brand they deal with and trust they will naturally believe the message is genuine.

Commonly experienced scams for Londoners include: home delivery scams (21%), online payment query scams (19%), bank scams (18%), prize or lottery scams (18%), employment scams (18%), fine scams (18%), HMRC payment scams (17%), romance scams (15%), cryptocurrency (15%), charity scams (15%), investment scams (14%), and ancestry scams (11%).

The findings came as GSE revealed that two of the biggest tech giants Microsoft and Meta are joining as partners and data providers.

They join more than 30 global leaders collaborating through GSE to tackle online scams, fraud and abuse.

GSE was founded in 2024 by Oxford Information Labs Research (OXIL), Google and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA).

It enables partner organisations to collaborate, share data stop online scams, fraud and abuse faster – making them less effective and less profitable.

As of July 2025, the GSE contains over 320 million signals from 32 data providers including Google, Spamhaus and Abusix.

According to GASA’s 2024 Global State of Scams Report, the current annual cost of scams exceeds $1 trillion globally 0 and rising.

But according to the World Economic Forum only 0.05% of all cybercrimes globally are prosecuted.

Chris Compton, director Outreach & Governance, Central Fraud & Abuse Risk,at Microsoft said: “Microsoft is proud to join the Global Signal Exchange, a network we see as pivotal in the global effort to combat online scams and abuse.

“We believe that collaboration across sectors and borders is critical to disrupting malicious activity. GSE will enhance our ability to work together with our fellow members to stop bad actors worldwide. Joining the Exchange marks an important step in Microsoft’s continued commitment to the safety of users everywhere.”

Nathaniel Gleicher, Global Head of Counter Fraud at Meta said: “Online scams are driven by ruthless cross-border criminal networks that use sophisticated schemes to abuse a wide range of platforms and target people across society. We need platforms, banks, governments, law enforcement, domain name systems and telecoms to work together to stop these actors, and we’re committed to doing our part.

“This is why we are building on our long standing work with the Global Signal Exchange to share intelligence and help protect people from these criminals. We’re also investing in technology to aggressively enforce against scams – including testing the use of facial recognition technology, while also empowering people to protect themselves with on-platform warnings and tools educating consumers on common schemes.”

Emily Taylor, co-founder of the Global Signal Exchange said young people in particular were being “besieged by attacks” with one reporting have received 240 scam attempts in a single day.

She said the next phase in the development of the exchange is partnerships with Government and law enforcement bodies.

She added: “We warmly welcome Microsoft and Meta to the Global Signal Exchange and we are excited by the significant contribution they will make in helping us all to change the narrative on crime, fraud and abuse.

The level of global support for the Global Signal Exchange signifies a step-change in the fight against online crime, as we facilitate a new culture of co-operation and data sharing.

“Scammers work together, they share and they move quickly, which means the days are long-gone when individual brands can tackle online crime alone. The Global Signal Exchange marks a new chapter in the collective fight-back against online crime.”