Signature Fraud and Forgery Statistics: 53 Facts (2026)

A signature is supposed to prove that a person agreed to something. That is exactly why criminals copy it: on cheques, on property deeds, on wills and on contracts. Most fraud today happens online, but forged signatures still cost real money every year.

This page gathers the key numbers on fraud and forgery in the UK, with comparisons from the US, and looks at how well experts and machines can spot a fake signature. Every figure is linked to a source listed at the foot of the page.

Fraud in the UK

Fraud is now the most common crime in England and Wales. The official figures do not separate signature forgery from other types, but they show the scale of the problem it sits in.

1. 4.5 million fraud incidents in a single year

The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated 4.5 million fraud incidents in the year to March 2026, compared with 4.2 million the year before.¹

2. 3.8 million people fell victim to fraud

The number of fraud victims rose by 10% to 3.8 million in the year to March 2026, up from 3.4 million.²

3. 7.8% of adults were defrauded in a year

The share of people who were victims of fraud in the previous 12 months rose to 7.8%. Bank and credit account fraud, which includes misuse of cheque books, grew by 15% to around 2.8 million incidents.³

4. Fraud hit its highest level since records began

In the year to March 2025, fraud rose by 31% to around 4.2 million incidents, the highest number since the survey started measuring fraud in 2017.⁴

5. Only 1 in 8 fraud offences is reported

Just one in eight fraud offences was reported to the police or Action Fraud.⁵

6. Over 40% of crime, under 1% of police resources

The Home Office says fraud accounts for more than 40% of crime but receives less than 1% of police resource.⁶

Bank and card fraud

UK Finance publishes the banking industry's own figures each year. They cover every kind of payment fraud, from stolen cards to fake bank staff.

7. £703.4 million lost to unauthorised fraud in 2025

Unauthorised fraud, where payments are made without the account holder's permission, caused losses of £703.4 million in 2025, 5% less than in 2024.⁷

8. 3.81 million confirmed cases

Banks confirmed 3.81 million cases of unauthorised fraud in 2025, an increase of 11%.⁸

9. 70p in every £1 was stopped

Banks prevented a further £1.68 billion of unauthorised fraud in 2025, equal to 70p of every £1 attempted.⁹

10. Eight people defrauded every minute

On average eight people were defrauded every minute in 2025, with almost £2,500 lost in that same minute.¹⁰

11. £37.8 million lost to account takeover

Criminals who took over existing card accounts caused £37.8 million of losses across 82,030 cases in 2025.¹¹

12. Fake bank and police staff took £55.5 million

Impersonation scams by people pretending to be from the police or a bank cost victims £55.5 million across 6,016 cases in 2025, down from £137.3 million in 2021.¹²

Cheques and forged signatures

The cheque is the classic target of signature forgery. Fewer cheques are written each year, and cheque fraud has fallen with them.

13. £4.1 million lost to cheque fraud in 2025

UK cheque fraud losses were £4.1 million across 795 cases in 2025, down 49% in value and 28% in cases.¹³

14. The lowest cheque fraud ever recorded

Cheque fraud losses and cases in 2025 were the lowest ever reported, and 96% of attempted cheque fraud was stopped before any money was lost.¹⁴

15. Cheque fraud peaked at £53.6 million in 2019

Losses were £13.7 million in 2016 and rose to a peak of £53.6 million in 2019, before falling back.¹⁵

16. 364 cheques with a forged signature

Forged cheques, where a genuine cheque is stolen and the signature faked, caused £1.7 million of losses across 364 cases in 2025, up 21% in value and 45% in cases.¹⁶

17. Altered cheques cost £1.9 million

Cheques that were fraudulently altered caused £1.9 million of losses across 292 cases in 2025, and counterfeit cheques £0.5 million across 139 cases.¹⁷

Identity fraud and fake documents

Cifas runs the UK's largest database of fraud cases shared between banks, lenders and other organisations.

18. A record 444,000 fraud cases filed

Cifas members recorded more than 444,000 cases to the National Fraud Database in 2025, a record and 6% more than the year before.¹⁸

19. More than 1,200 cases every day

Cifas members record more than 1,200 cases a day and prevented £2.4 billion in fraud losses in 2025.¹⁹

20. Identity fraud makes up 54% of cases

Identity fraud is the largest category, at 54% of all filings and more than 242,000 cases in 2025.²⁰

21. 68% of identity fraud targets cards and bank accounts

Plastic cards and bank accounts together account for 68% of identity fraud cases, or 88,129 filings.²¹

22. 220,000 cases in the first half of 2026

More than 220,000 cases were filed between January and June 2026, a record for a first half year. Cifas warns of growing use of synthetic identities and digitally manipulated documents.²²

Property, wills and companies

A forged signature on a property transfer or a will can move hundreds of thousands of pounds at once. These are rare crimes, but expensive ones.

23. £63 million of property fraud stopped in one year

HM Land Registry prevented fraudulent property applications worth more than £63 million in 2025 to 2026.²³

24. £580,183 paid out for one forged transfer

The largest single compensation payment made by HM Land Registry in 2025 to 2026 was £580,183, for a forged transfer of a whole property.²⁴

25. Forgery is usually the biggest cause of compensation

HM Land Registry says fraud or forgery usually accounts for the largest share of its indemnity payments, and 2025 to 2026 was no exception.²⁵

26. 669 fraudulent registrations prevented since 2009

By 2024 to 2025, HM Land Registry had prevented 669 fraudulent registrations since 2009.²⁶

27. £340 million of property fraud prevented

Between 2009 and 2023, HM Land Registry prevented more than £340 million worth of property fraud.²⁷

28. 900,000 owners watch their property

The number of free Property Alert accounts, which warn owners about activity on their title, rose by 14.6% to more than 900,000.²⁸

29. Action against 157,679 companies

Companies House took targeted action against 157,679 companies in 2025 to 2026, from removing information to striking companies off the register.²⁹

30. A will needs two witnesses at the same time

Under the Wills Act 1837, a will in England and Wales is only valid if it is signed, or the signature acknowledged, in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time. The rule is one of the main protections against forged wills.³⁰

Cheque fraud in the US

Americans still write far more cheques than Britons, and cheque fraud there has grown sharply.

31. 680,000 suspicious check fraud reports in 2022

US banks filed more than 680,000 suspicious activity reports related to check fraud in 2022, nearly double the previous year.³¹

32. 350,000 reports a year earlier

In 2021 the figure was more than 350,000 reports, already 23% more than in 2020.³²

33. "Check washing" erases the original ink

The US Treasury's financial crime unit warns of check washing, in which criminals use chemicals to remove the ink on a stolen cheque and write in a new payee and often a new amount.³³

34. $688 million in suspicious activity from stolen mail

Between February and August 2023, check fraud linked to mail theft accounted for more than $688 million in suspicious activity.³⁴

35. Cheques remain the payment most hit by fraud

In a survey of US finance professionals, 76% of organisations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025, and cheques remained the payment method most often affected.³⁵

36. $282.7 million in reported card and check fraud losses

The FBI received 18,774 complaints about credit card and check fraud in 2025, with reported losses of $282,670,235.³⁶

Can experts spot a forged signature?

Forensic document examiners compare questioned signatures with known samples. Research shows they are far more accurate than untrained people, although not perfect.

37. Experts erred in 3.4% of signature opinions

In a test with 150 signatures, forensic document examiners gave a wrong opinion in 3.4% of cases, compared with 19.3% for a control group of non-experts.³⁷

38. Experts accepted only 0.49% of forgeries as genuine

In the first controlled study of its kind, examiners wrongly accepted a forged signature as genuine in 0.49% of cases. Laypeople did so in 6.47% of cases.³⁸

39. Laypeople rejected 26.1% of genuine signatures

The same study found that examiners wrongly rejected genuine signatures in 7.05% of cases, while laypeople did so in 26.1% of cases.³⁹

40. 3.1% false positives in a study of 86 examiners

A large US study of 86 handwriting examiners and 7,196 conclusions found a false positive rate of 3.1% and a false negative rate of 1.1%.⁴⁰

41. Twins fool experts more often

In the same study, examiners wrongly matched writing by twins in 8.7% of comparisons, against 2.5% for writing by people who were not twins.⁴¹

42. 2.5% error rate for experts, 19.6% for laypeople

A 2024 review of error rate studies found that experts made errors on signatures in 2.50% of cases on average, compared with 19.55% for laypeople.⁴²

43. Six years of work on human error in handwriting examination

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology convened an expert working group on human factors in handwriting examination in June 2015. Its report was published in June 2021.⁴³

Machines and electronic signatures

44. Software accepted 0.38% of fake signatures

A 2026 study of an automated system for checking scanned signatures reported 98.77% accuracy on benchmark data, accepting only 0.38% of fake signatures as genuine. Results like these come from test datasets, not real-world fraud.⁴⁴

45. DocuSign has more than 1.8 million customers

The electronic signature company DocuSign had more than 1.8 million customers at the end of January 2026, including about 280,000 direct enterprise and commercial customers.⁴⁵

46. Electronic signatures count as evidence in UK courts

The Electronic Communications Act 2000 makes electronic signatures admissible in evidence in UK legal proceedings.⁴⁶

47. Used instead of handwriting "every day"

The Law Commission states that electronic signatures are validly used instead of handwritten signatures in transactions every day.⁴⁷

The end of signing at the till

48. Counterfeit card fraud down 95% since chip and PIN

Chip and PIN replaced the signature for in-store card payments in the UK. Losses to counterfeit card fraud have fallen by 95% over the last 20 years.⁴⁸

49. 80% of Mastercard payments already needed no signature

Before dropping the signature requirement in North America in April 2018, Mastercard said more than 80% of its in-store transactions there no longer needed a signature.⁴⁹

50. Visa made signatures optional from 14 April 2018

Visa made the cardholder signature optional for all chip-enabled merchants in the US and Canada from 14 April 2018.⁵⁰

What the law says

51. Forgery means making a "false instrument"

Under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, a person is guilty of forgery if they make a false instrument with the intention that it be accepted as genuine.⁵¹

52. Up to 10 years in prison in the UK

Forgery tried on indictment carries a maximum sentence of ten years' imprisonment.⁵²

53. Up to 10 years under US federal law

Forging a deed, power of attorney or contract to obtain money from the US government carries up to ten years in prison under federal law.⁵³

The main lesson from these numbers: the more distinctive and consistent your signature, the harder it is to copy convincingly and the easier it is for an examiner to tell the difference. A signature you write the same way every time is better protection than a quick scribble. You can try different styles in our free signature generator, or have a unique signature designed for you with our signature design service.

Frequently asked questions

How common is signature fraud in the UK?

There is no official count of signature forgery on its own. It is recorded inside wider categories: in 2025 UK Finance counted 364 forged cheque cases worth £1.7 million, and HM Land Registry says fraud or forgery usually makes up the largest share of its compensation payments.

Can experts tell a forged signature from a genuine one?

Mostly, yes. Studies put the error rate of trained forensic document examiners at around 2.5% for signatures, compared with almost 20% for untrained people.

What is the sentence for forgery in the UK?

Under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, forgery tried on indictment carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.

Do you still sign for card payments in the UK?

Rarely. Chip and PIN replaced signatures for in-store card payments in the UK, and losses to counterfeit card fraud have fallen by 95% in 20 years.

Sources

1. 1Office for National Statistics, Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2026 (ons.gov.uk)
2. 2Office for National Statistics, Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2026 (ons.gov.uk)
3. 3Office for National Statistics, Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2026 (ons.gov.uk)
4. 4Office for National Statistics, Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2025 (ons.gov.uk)
5. 5Office for National Statistics, Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2025 (ons.gov.uk)
6. 6Home Office, Fraud Strategy (gov.uk)
7. 7UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (ukfinance.org.uk)
8. 8UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (ukfinance.org.uk)
9. 9UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (ukfinance.org.uk)
10. 10UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (ukfinance.org.uk)
11. 11UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (ukfinance.org.uk)
12. 12UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (ukfinance.org.uk)
13. 13UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (ukfinance.org.uk)
14. 14UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (ukfinance.org.uk)
15. 15UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (ukfinance.org.uk)
16. 16UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (ukfinance.org.uk)
17. 17UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (ukfinance.org.uk)
18. 18Cifas, Fraudscape 2026 (cifas.org.uk)
19. 19Cifas, Fraudscape 2026 (cifas.org.uk)
20. 20Cifas, Fraudscape report (fraudscape.co.uk)
21. 21Cifas, Fraudscape report (fraudscape.co.uk)
22. 22Cifas, Fraudscape report (fraudscape.co.uk)
23. 23HM Land Registry, Annual Report and Accounts 2025 to 2026 (gov.uk)
24. 24HM Land Registry, Annual Report and Accounts 2025 to 2026 (gov.uk)
25. 25HM Land Registry, Annual Report and Accounts 2025 to 2026 (gov.uk)
26. 26HM Land Registry, Annual Report 2024 to 2025: performance report (gov.uk)
27. 27HM Land Registry blog, preventing property fraud (blog.gov.uk)
28. 28HM Land Registry, Annual Report and Accounts 2025 to 2026 (gov.uk)
29. 29Companies House, Annual Report and Accounts 2025 to 2026 (gov.uk)
30. 30Wills Act 1837, section 9 (legislation.gov.uk)
31. 31Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (US Treasury), alert on mail theft related check fraud (fincen.gov)
32. 32Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (US Treasury), alert on mail theft related check fraud (fincen.gov)
33. 33Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (US Treasury), alert on mail theft related check fraud (fincen.gov)
34. 34Federal News Network, on FinCEN check fraud analysis (federalnewsnetwork.com)
35. 35Association for Financial Professionals, Payments Fraud and Control Survey (financialprofessionals.org)
36. 36FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 report (ic3.gov)
37. 37Sita, Found and Rogers, Journal of Forensic Sciences (europepmc.org)
38. 38Kam et al., Journal of Forensic Sciences (europepmc.org)
39. 39Kam et al., Journal of Forensic Sciences (europepmc.org)
40. 40Hicklin et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (nih.gov)
41. 41Hicklin et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (nih.gov)
42. 42Crot and Marquis, Journal of Forensic Sciences (europepmc.org)
43. 43National Institute of Standards and Technology, Forensic Handwriting Examination and Human Factors (nist.gov)
44. 44Study on offline signature verification (SignGuard) (nih.gov)
45. 45DocuSign, Annual Report (Form 10-K) fiscal 2026 (q4cdn.com)
46. 46Electronic Communications Act 2000, section 7 (legislation.gov.uk)
47. 47Law Commission, Electronic execution of documents (lawcom.gov.uk)
48. 48UK Finance, 20 years of chip and PIN (ukfinance.org.uk)
49. 49Mastercard, no more signing on the dotted line (mastercard.com)
50. 50Visa, signature requirement made optional (visa.com)
51. 51Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, section 1 (legislation.gov.uk)
52. 52Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, section 6 (legislation.gov.uk)
53. 53Cornell Law School, 18 U.S. Code 495 (cornell.edu)