>> Click here to view black market products for this country

In 2009, banks in the United Kingdom reported 51,000 phishing incidents targeting customers, a 16 percent increase from the previous year.

Source:  Jeremy Kirk, “Counterfeit Card Fraud Drops by Half in the UK,” PC World, March 10, 2010.

In 2009, financial institutions in the United Kingdom lost $121.3 Million (80.9 Million British Pounds) to counterfeit credit cards. The losses were down from the $280 Million (169 Million British Pounds) that were lost in 2008.

Source: Jeremy Kirk, “Counterfeit Card Fraud Drops by Half in the UK,” PC World, March 10, 2010.

Between 2007 and 2008, a human smuggling gang was smuggling people from Iraq into the United Kingdom and charging $10,500 (7,500 British Pounds) a person. The gang, who authorities believe smuggled 1,000 people into the country, would often charge up to $21,000 (14,000 British Pounds) to people who were desperate to leave Iraq.

Source:  Peter Allen, “‘Baghdad ring’ of people-smugglers ‘helped hundreds of migrants sneak into Britain’ ,” Telegraph, March 4, 2010.

A report by the House of Commons found that between 25 to 30 tons of cocaine enters the United Kingdom each year.  Around 3.5 tons of cocaine was seized by law enforcement in 2009.

Source:  Thomas Penny, “Cocaine Seizures Are ‘Woefully Inadequate,’ U.K. Lawmakers Say,” BusinessWeek, March 3, 2010.

The British Crime Survey reported that 437,000 people between the ages of 16 to 24 used cocaine within the past year in England and Whales. This translated to 6.6 percent of between within the age bracket using cocaine, an increase from 5.1 percent the year before.

Source: Amardeep Bassey, “Teen cocaine use on the rise as more seek treatment,” BBC News, March 1, 2010.

Creative industries in the United Kingdom claim that up to 50 percent of all Internet traffic in the country is file-sharing activities.

Source:  Robert Verkaik, “Internet piracy crackdown by US studios,” Independent, March 1, 2010.

The Government of the United Kingdom losses an estimated $1.5 Billion (1 Billion British Pounds) in lost taxes to alcohol smuggling activities.

The smuggling of beer alone creates losses of $1 Billion (750 Million Pounds).

Source:  ePolitix, “The £1bn alcohol fraud problem,” Yahoo UK, February 9, 2010.

One in five adult smokers and one in three minors between the ages of 14 to 17 has admitted to buying cheap illegal cigarettes on the black market in the United Kingdom.

Source:  Denis Campbell, “Smuggled tobacco is a source of ill-health on the cheap,” Guardian, February 10, 2010.

Up to 10 percent of the 47 Billion cigarettes sold in the United Kingdom is smuggled and sold illegally.

Source:  Dennis Campbell, “Smuggled tobacco is a source of ill-health on the cheap,” Guardian, February 10, 2010.