by Matt Cooper
Disrupt, Safeguard, Respond: How Network APIs Support the UK’s Fraud Strategy
Fraud has become the dominant crime threat in the United Kingdom. According to the Government’s newly published Fraud Strategy 2026–2029, fraud now accounts for nearly half of all crime experienced by individuals in England and Wales and costs the UK economy at least £14.4 billion annually.
Criminal groups have industrialised their operations. Phishing kits, social engineering playbooks, spoofed phone numbers and SIM-swap attacks allow organised networks to reach millions of victims at scale. Fraud is no longer opportunistic. It is a globalised, technology-enabled industry.
In response, the Government has structured its new strategy around three clear pillars:
Disrupt.
Safeguard.
Respond.
While these principles guide law enforcement, regulation and international cooperation, they also highlight the growing role of telecommunications networks in combating fraud. Increasingly, the network itself is becoming an active security layer.
This is where Network APIs and mobile network intelligence play an important role.
Disrupt: stopping fraud before it happens
The first pillar of the strategy focuses on disrupting the tools, systems and infrastructure criminals rely on.
The report highlights how fraud increasingly exploits telecommunications infrastructure, including spoofed phone numbers, fraudulent messaging campaigns and SIM-swapping attacks used to bypass authentication controls.
Historically, fraud detection has happened too late. Businesses often discover attacks after accounts are compromised or payments have already been made.
Network APIs allow organisations to shift fraud prevention further upstream.
Capabilities such as:
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Number verification
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SIM swap detection
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Device and network authentication
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Number intelligence and status checks
allow organisations to verify identity signals directly through the mobile network.
Instead of relying solely on passwords, SMS codes or behavioural analysis, enterprises can confirm that a phone number is genuinely associated with the user attempting to access a service.
By validating identity earlier in the customer journey, businesses can prevent account takeover attempts, reduce phishing success rates and block suspicious activity before criminals gain access.
This aligns directly with the strategy’s objective to deny criminals access to the systems they exploit.
Safeguard: reducing vulnerability
The second pillar of the strategy focuses on strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability among individuals and businesses.
Fraudsters succeed by exploiting gaps in identity verification, weaknesses in authentication systems and the growing complexity of digital ecosystems.
Many of today’s most damaging fraud types, including authorised push payment fraud and account takeover, begin with compromised identity signals. Criminals impersonate legitimate users, often using stolen data or manipulated communications.
Network-based identity verification helps close these gaps.
Mobile networks possess deterministic signals that are difficult for criminals to replicate or spoof. By exposing these signals through standardised APIs, operators allow organisations to build stronger identity checks into everyday digital services.
For example:
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Banks can detect when a phone number has recently undergone a SIM swap, a common precursor to account takeover.
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Digital platforms can verify that a number genuinely belongs to the person logging in.
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Online services can authenticate users without relying solely on vulnerable OTP flows.
These approaches reduce the reliance on passwords and one-time passcodes, both of which are frequently targeted by phishing campaigns.
The result is stronger digital trust and fewer opportunities for criminals to exploit vulnerabilities.
Respond: improving detection and investigation
The final pillar of the strategy focuses on improving the response when fraud does occur, including better reporting systems, stronger victim support and improved investigative capabilities.
Network data can play an important role here as well.
Telecommunications intelligence can help investigators identify patterns across fraud campaigns, trace communications infrastructure used by criminal groups and link seemingly unrelated incidents.
Aggregated network insights also allow enterprises to identify emerging threats earlier and adapt their security controls accordingly.
As fraud becomes more global and organised, collaboration between telecommunications providers, technology platforms, financial institutions and law enforcement becomes essential.
The network as a security layer
One theme emerges clearly from the Fraud Strategy.
Fraud increasingly begins in communications channels. Messages, calls, authentication flows and digital identities are now key attack vectors.
That means the infrastructure that carries those communications must also become part of the defence. Network APIs enable that transformation. By exposing trusted signals from mobile networks, they allow enterprises to integrate identity verification and fraud detection directly into digital services.
The result is a shift from reactive fraud detection to proactive fraud prevention.
Restoring trust in digital interactions
Fraud does more than steal money. It erodes trust in digital services, damages businesses and leaves lasting emotional harm for victims.
The Government’s strategy recognises that tackling fraud requires cooperation across the public and private sectors. Telecommunications networks are central to that effort. Network APIs represent an important step forward in that collaboration.
By enabling organisations to verify identities, detect suspicious activity and secure authentication flows at the network level, they help create a safer digital environment for individuals and businesses alike.
In other words, they help restore the one thing fraud is designed to destroy: Trust.
Download the UK Government's Full Report here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69ae77ddc78869bf8eb8a509/fraud-strategy-web.pdf