Government Cuts Leave Cybercrime Victims Behind
The Mayor of London has cut funding for victims of online crime in the capital at a time when 98% of reports to the police are given ‘no further action’. In fact, victims are seven times less likely to see their perpetrator charged or summoned compared to victims of offline crime.
From the 1st of April 2025, dedicated online crime victim services will be shut down and thousands of victims will go without specialist support. In particular, women and girls suffering from cyberstalking and online harassment will suffer as specialist cyberstalking staff are removed from the frontline.
For the past 16 months, The Cyber Helpline has worked closely with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to help bridge the gap in support for Londoners impacted by cybercrime. During this time, The Cyber Helpline successfully opened 2,060 London cases and 80,000 London-based individuals have accessed our self-help advice online.
MOPAC’s partnership has been instrumental in helping us make cybercrime support accessible for all. Now, the future of UK victim support services hangs in the balance, in light of recent budget cuts made by the Ministry of Justice.
National budget cuts hit victim support services
The national victim support budget has been cut by the Ministry of Justice by 4.2% for 2025, which has led to Sadiq Khan cutting The Cyber Helpline’s funding for online crime victims in the capital. Without MOPACs backing, our localised service capabilities will suffer and we are obliged to shut down our London service. The Cyber Helpline is a lifeline for victims. Now, essential referral pathways are lost to local charities and police services. This is devastating news for victims, especially as we are seeing a 72% growth in cases across London year on year.
Olivia*, a victim of cyberstalking accessed The Cyber Helpline’s London service:
“Dealing with my cyberstalker, I was continually let down by the police, the courts and the criminal justice system in general. They just didn’t seem to understand the nature of the crime and as a result, my family's lives suffered devastatingly for years. The Cyber Helpline’s London service was a lifeline for me and helped me progress my case and for my family to move on with our lives. How on earth can you cut online crime victim support at a time like this?
Without this partnership, victims are left to advocate for themselves and will struggle to access specialist cyber support and justice for these crimes, at a time when the justice system is already stretched so thin. For the 5,000,000 annual victims of online crimes, we must sit with the stark reality that 98.1% of these cases will be abandoned by police with "no further action" taken.
To add insult to injury, the stark contradiction between the UK Government's ‘AI superpower’ aspirations and its diminishing support for online crime victims reveals a dangerous blind spot in national priorities. How are we pursuing AI innovation at the expense of victim protection? The government must address these shortcomings now or we risk losing the little support infrastructure we have worked so hard to build.
How The Cyber Helpline Can Help
The Cyber Helpline is a charity supporting victims of cybercrime across London and the UK. We provide guidance, resources, and reassurance to work towards a world where no one has to navigate cybercrime alone.
Cybercrime won’t fix itself, and neither will the government. Please spare a moment to write to your local MP and spread the word.
If you feel moved to support victims of cybercrime, you can do so by donating or fundraising today.
*all names are pseudonyms to protect the identity of victims.