London's Cybercrime Victims Face Support Crisis
From the 1st of April 2025, our dedicated London service has been decommissioned as a result of the recent government budget cuts to victim support services.
What Does This Mean for Victims of Cybercrime in London?
Back in December 2023, the Mayor of London announced a £170,000 grant as part of a one year pilot to create a specialised, local service to support victims of cybercrime and online harm living in London. Since this grant, The Cyber Helpline has opened 2,060 London cases and 80,000 London-based individuals have accessed our self-help guides online. The funding allowed us to sustain the 72% increase in demand we saw from Londoners year on year.
The cuts mean we can’t currently keep running our localised service for London boroughs. We have had to let go of frontline staff who are specialists in handling cyberstalking and harassment cases, as well as lose essential referral pathways that allowed The Cyber Helpline, London police forces and local organisations to collaborate closely to support you. We want to say that this doesn’t mean The Cyber Helpline will stop running, or that you can’t continue using our service. In fact, we will:
Continue to provide specialist cybersecurity support to as many cybercrime victims across London and the UK as we can. If you live in London this might mean it will take a bit longer than usual for one of our helpline responders to get back to you.
Make sure our cybersecurity guides and chatbot remain free and available to you 24/7.
Keep working hard to find ways to sustainably collaborate with local police forces and charities. We want to give you the best possible chance of accessing multi-faceted, time-critical support.
Next Steps
Whilst this development is devastating for London victims, our commitment to delivering accessible cybercrime support for all remains unshaken. We are pushing harder than ever to advocate for better support systems, demand accountability from the government and broader justice system, and fight for the restoration of crucial services that prioritise and care for victims in their time of need.
Emma Best, British politician and Member of the London Assembly has already been advocating for a reallocation of funds from MOPAC to keep our localised London service running for the rest of the year. £85,000 is all we need for this to happen. Can you help us spread the word?
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.