FOI reference: FOI-2026-3549
You asked
I would like to formally request a granular dataset containing the following variables for each recorded instance of fraud: Microdata (2019–2025)
- Demographics: Victim age, gender, and regional location.
- Fraud Context: Type of fraud (category), method of initial contact, and method of payment.
- Temporal Data: Date of the offense and the specific date/time the fraud was reported.
- Victim History: Indicator of repeat victimization (how many times they have been defrauded) and whether they were contacted again by the suspect.
- Financials: Total financial loss, amount refunded/recovered, and the source of the refund (e.g., bank, suspect, or insurance).
- Reporting: The channel through which the offense was reported (e.g., local police, national fraud center, or financial institution).
We said
Thank you for your request.
We publish figures on fraud in England and Wales primarily based on the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police recorded crime data.
Unfortunately, we are unable to openly release microdata from the CSEW. Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) prohibits the disclosure of information held by the Statistics Board (ONS) for statistical purposes that would identify an individual or a body corporate. As we are prohibited by law from publishing statistics in which individuals can be identified, Section 44(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.
However, the ONS has an established route for accessing this microdata through our Secure Research Service (SRS). In order to access microdata, researchers must submit an application to become an Accredited Researcher. Once successful, a request for access outlining their proposed project and analytical needs can be made. Full guidance on how to access these data is available via the SRS webpage.
Alternatively, CSEW datasets at an individual response level are available from the UK Data Service. Guidance on how to access these datasets can be found on the UK Data Service website.
Please note that we do not collect "temporal data" as the CSEW is a household victimisation survey, which asks respondents about their experiences of crime within the last year, with no specific date or time of instance being collected.
The Nature of Crime: fraud and computer misuse tables provide the most granular level of detail we publish from the CSEW, with breakdowns on the characteristics and types of fraud offences. You may find the following tables useful for your research.
Tables 6a to 6f include data on the first method of contact with the offender in incidents of fraud. Tables 9a to 9e show financial loss suffered by victims of fraud. Table 10 shows the method for giving, sending or transferring money among those who responded to fraudulent communication.
In our Fraud and computer misuse appendix tables, Table 6 contains the proportion of victims who were victimised more than once. Tables 7 and 8 show the proportion of people who were victims of fraud, broken down by personal and household characteristics.
We have also published statistics from the CSEW on fraud in our quarterly bulletin. Table A1 in our Crime in England and Wales appendix tables includes incidents of fraud, with a breakdown for bank and credit account fraud, consumer and retail fraud, advance fee fraud, and other fraud. Table C2 includes information about the reimbursement of money lost to victims of fraud.
The most recent data on police recorded fraud can be found in Section C in the Year ending September 2025 Crime in England and Wales appendix tables. However, we do not hold record-level data on police recorded fraud.
If you have any other queries, please contact us at crimestatistics@ons.gov.uk