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Investing in ground-breaking fraud preventions: how we’re keeping customers safe from scammers

Liz Ziegler
Fraud Director, Lloyds Banking Group
Last updated: 05 December 2025
6 min read

At a glance:

  • Lloyds Banking Group has committed a total of £15 million to its pioneering fraud prevention scheme, funded through seized criminal assets.
  • We’re the only UK bank using frozen criminal funds to support fraud prevention and victim assistance programmes.
  • Partnerships with organisations like City of London Police, DCPCU, Age UK and We Fight Fraud have led to 113 arrests, £3 million in criminal assets seized, and education for 30,000 older people.
  • Initiatives include Age UK support sessions and the ‘Cyber Detectives’ programme in schools, tackling social media scams and building confidence to report fraud.

Fraud is the most prevalent crime in the UK, accounting for over 40%. Protecting our customers from fraud and stopping money getting into the hands of criminals, where it’s often used to fund all sorts of nefarious activities like drug smuggling and people trafficking, is a key priority. Which is why we’ve extended our pioneering fraud prevention scheme, funded though frozen accounts that are proven to be the proceeds of criminal activity, to help make the UK a safer place for our customers and communities.   

We’ve already invested £10 million into this fraud prevention scheme, and are injecting a further £5 million, reinforcing our commitment to protecting people from the harms of fraud.

By joining forces with other fraud-impacted industries and bringing together public and private organisations such as the UK Home Office, City of London Police (CoLP), Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), Age UK, Stop Scams UK and We Fight Fraud, we can address the root causes and prevent people from falling victim to scammers in the first place.

 

Fighting fraud

Helping customers keep their money safe is a top priority at Lloyds Banking Group. We invest tens of millions of pounds every year in the latest technology to protect our customers from fraud.

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Investing in the detection and prevention of financial crime

Lloyds Banking Group launched this industry-first initiative in 2021. Since its launch we’ve seized, then invested over £10 million of frozen criminal funds, in innovative UK fraud prevention and victim support projects with organisations such as Age UK, We Fight Fraud and DCPCU.  

This latest funding means that we’ve invested a total of £15 million into the scheme which, at this point in time, is totally unique in the banking sector. Funding given to DCPCU has secured 113 arrests and led to the seizure of a further £3 million in criminal assets, directly disrupting cyber criminals, drug trafficking and people trafficking.

As well as catching criminals once fraud has taken place, a big part of the scheme is about stopping fraud from happening in the first place. Age UK has supported over 50,000 older people across the UK through one-to-one advice and awareness sessions, sharing practical support to avoid scams, building confidence to report fraud when it does happen and reducing the chance of repeat victimisation.  

What’s next in the fight against fraud?

We’ve enjoyed some great success across our partnerships, but we know there’s still much more we can do to protect our communities. There is a need to share more intelligence and data across public/private organisations and the term ‘knowledge is power’ has never been so true for fraud prevention. 

In order to keep people safe from online fraud a comprehensive, joined-up approach across all sectors in the fraud ecosystem is needed, so that together we can tackle the issue of fraud. Establishing real-time and reciprocal data sharing between the public sector, technology, telecommunication companies and financial services firms is essential to preventing scams, protecting consumers and disrupting criminal networks. 

For example, if technology companies shared phone numbers or email addresses associated with social media profiles involved in fraudulent activity, banks could match these with accounts to then proactively detect money mules and implement restrictions.  

To make a systemic difference in fraud prevention, all sectors must continue collaborating towards a solution where we can share data with each other in an effective, timely and secure way. 

In recent years, fraud prevention discussions and activity have greatly increased across government, law enforcement and other sectors. There is growing consensus that collaborative public/private relationships are key to making a step change in tackling the volume and severity of fraud which undermines our national security. Ultimately, our pioneering initiative gets to the heart of where fraud prevention works best. By collaborating to empower and inform people to stop fraud before it happens, giving them the confidence to fight back. 

 

Origninally published February 2022

 


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Liz's background
About the author Liz's background

Fraud Director, Lloyds Banking Group

Liz has been with Lloyds Banking Group for over 19 years, currently serving as the Director of Fraud, Consumer. 

Her career is marked by a series of senior roles most recently in economic crime prevention and previously across the retail bank.

Liz has worked across multiple jurisdictions such as Spain, the Channel Islands, Switzerland, and Australia. She has spearheaded significant integration and divestment projects in the UK and abroad.

Her unwavering commitment to safeguarding both consumers and the Bank from fraud-related threats is evident as she leads a formidable team of approximately 4,000 specialists, playing a pivotal role in combating the ever-evolving landscape of fraud threats.

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