Suspicious Email Reporting Service

Over 32 million suspicious emails have been reported to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) – more than a third of them in the last year.

The reports have led to more than 329,000 website addresses being removed by the National Cyber Security Centre.

Action Fraud, the national fraud and cybercrime reporting service, launched a national phishing awareness campaign on 24 June 2024, as reporting reached its highest level since SERS launched.

New data shows a rise of 44% year-on-year, with almost 11,611,400 reports made to SERS in 2023, up from 8,074,200 reports in 2022.

Alongside emails, there has also been a huge number of text messages reported to 7726.

In March 2024, more than 60,000 malicious websites were removed as a result of being reported using 7726 – a free service, offered by mobile network providers, allowing customers to report suspicious text messages.

A doctor lost more than £150 to a fake email claiming to be from TV Licensing. The email claimed that they needed to renew her TV licence as soon as possible. What made the phishing email so believable was that the victim’s TV licence had recently expired and the link in the email led to a fake TV Licensing website that replicated the real one.

Remember, if you think you have received a phishing email or text message, make sure you report it.

You can forward emails to report@phishing.gov.uk, or forward spam text messages to 7726.