Metric permalink
Fraud incidents (CSEW)
Part of the Rule of Law and Safety domain. Estimated total fraud incidents per year in England and Wales based on CSEW, the largest crime type by volume.
Latest data
Latest reading
YE Mar 2026
Change between the two latest observations (2025 to YE Mar 2026), in stress score.
A higher reading is treated as worse for this indicator.
Score composition
Stress score
Since the August 2026 release
What changed on this indicator between the two releases: method only.
Blended from two measured components: (2/3 weight) and trend (1/3 weight); where no trend can be computed the metric is scored on its level alone. Volatility is published as a diagnostic and does not enter the blend. Full formula on the methodology page.
Level · 2/3 weight
Percentile: this metric is scored against its own history, where today sits between its best and worst recorded years.
Trend · 1/3 weight
Measured from the direction and size of the change between the two most recent readings.
Volatility · diagnostic, not blended
100Measured from how much this indicator has swung period on period across its recorded history.
Data confidence and provenance
Confidence and source
How much weight to put on the reading, the mean data-confidence across the component metrics (source quality, recency and completeness).
Source
Crime Survey for England and Wales
- Update frequency
- Quarterly
- Reliability
- high
Provenance
- Provider
- ONS (Crime Survey for England & Wales)
- Series ID
- CSEW fraud incidents
- Frequency
- annual
- Accessed
- 13 August 2026
Known weakness
CSEW fraud estimates have wide confidence intervals and the survey was redesigned to capture fraud more comprehensively in 2015, creating a structural break in the series.
Notes
Verified official value from ONS (Crime Survey for England & Wales) (CSEW fraud incidents), accessed 2026-08-13.
Historical values
History
| Period | Value | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 3.37 | |
| 2018 | 3.25 | |
| 2019 | 3.81 | |
| 2020 | 3.7 | |
| 2021 | 4.6 | |
| 2022 | 4.5 | |
| 2023 | 3.5 | |
| 2024 | 3.2 | |
| 2025 | 4.2 | |
| 2026 | 4.5 |