Reporting Anonymously to Crimestoppers
Crimestoppers is an independent UK charity, not part of the police. It allows anyone to pass on information about crime — including the exploitation of children — without giving their name or contact details. For young people, Crimestoppers also runs Fearless.org, an under-18 service that takes information anonymously and provides advice. Crimestoppers is most useful when someone has information about who is committing or planning a crime but does not feel safe reporting through normal channels.
Immediate danger — call 999
Crimestoppers is not an emergency service. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. If you have witnessed something happening now, call 999 — the police can respond immediately, and you can still ask to be treated as confidential.
What to report
- •Information about grooming gangs, child sexual exploitation rings, or organised offenders
- •County lines drug supply involving children as runners or carriers
- •Modern slavery and trafficking of children, including exploitation in cannabis farms, car washes, nail bars, or domestic settings
- •Adults who are known in the community to be a risk to children but where direct reporting feels unsafe
- •Online networks sharing child sexual abuse material — Crimestoppers can take a tip while the IWF removes the imagery
How to report
Crimestoppers — 0800 555 111
When to use
When you have information about a crime involving a child but do not feel safe giving your name to police
How to contact
Call 0800 555 111 (free, 24/7) or use the secure online form at crimestoppers-uk.org. The phone line does not display caller ID and calls are not traced. Online forms route via secure servers that do not record IP addresses for anonymous submissions.
What to expect
Trained call handlers will take your information and pass an intelligence report to the relevant police force. You will not be asked who you are. You will not be called as a witness because Crimestoppers does not know your identity.
Fearless.org — for under-18s
When to use
When the person passing on information is a young person worried about a friend, classmate, or themselves
How to contact
Visit fearless.org and use the anonymous online form, or call 0800 555 111 and mention Fearless. The site also has youth-focused advice on county lines, knife crime, and exploitation.
What to expect
Fearless treats young people the same way as Crimestoppers treats adult callers — no name, no traceback, no police follow-up to identify the source. The information is passed to police as intelligence.
Police — 999 (immediate) or 101 (non-immediate)
When to use
When you are willing to be named, or when an urgent response is needed
How to contact
Call 999 if a child is at immediate risk. Call 101 for non-urgent matters. You can ask the call handler to treat your details as sensitive. Police themselves do not offer the same fully anonymous route as Crimestoppers.
What to expect
If you give your details to police, they may need to speak to you as a witness later. They can apply special measures, including witness protection in serious cases.
Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline
When to use
When the concern is about a child being trafficked, exploited for labour, or held in modern slavery
How to contact
Call 08000 121 700 (free, 24/7) — run by Unseen, a UK anti-trafficking charity. They take information anonymously and can refer through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).
What to expect
The helpline passes information to police and to the National Crime Agency. They can also coordinate referrals into the NRM, which is the official identification process for victims of modern slavery.
NSPCC Helpline (with safeguarding focus)
When to use
When you want safeguarding-trained advice on whether and how to report
How to contact
Call 0808 800 5000 (free, 24/7) or email [email protected].
What to expect
NSPCC advisers can talk through your concerns and, with your permission, make a referral on your behalf. You can also remain anonymous to the family while sharing your name with the NSPCC.
Evidence checklist
Gather this information before or during your report. Do not delay reporting while collecting evidence — but preserve what you can.
- Names, descriptions, addresses, vehicle registrations, phone numbers — only what you actually know
- Date, time, and location of anything you have witnessed
- Whether the information is first-hand (you saw it) or second-hand (someone told you)
- Children involved — first names, ages, schools, or addresses only if you have a clear safeguarding concern
- Any pattern over time — when activity tends to happen, how often, who turns up
- Anything else passed on by Crimestoppers/Fearless that you have a reference for, so the new tip can be linked
What to say
You do not need to use a script, but this template may help if you are nervous about making the call. Adapt it to your circumstances.
"I want to give you information about [brief topic — e.g. an adult who I believe is grooming a child / drug dealing involving young people / a house where I have seen children being dropped off late at night]. I do not want to give my name. The location is [address or area]. The person involved is described as [description]. I have seen / heard about this happening [frequency, dates]. I am calling Crimestoppers because [reason — e.g. I am afraid of retaliation, I do not know if this is enough for police]."
What happens next
Crimestoppers writes an intelligence report based on what you said and passes it to the relevant police force, the National Crime Agency, or another partner agency. They strip any details that could identify you. The receiving force decides what to do with the intelligence — it may be added to an ongoing investigation, used to apply for a warrant, or shared with safeguarding partners. Because the route is anonymous, you will not be told what happens next, although general updates can sometimes be found on the Crimestoppers website. If a reward is on offer for the case and your tip leads to a result, Crimestoppers has a system for paying rewards without learning who you are.
What not to do
- ✗Do not pass on rumours or information designed to damage someone you have a personal dispute with — Crimestoppers is for genuine concerns about crime
- ✗Do not include your own name, address, or phone number if you want to stay anonymous
- ✗Do not ring back expecting a case update — the route is one-way by design
- ✗Do not assume Crimestoppers can remove online content — it does not; use the IWF for child sexual abuse material and platform reporting tools for other content
- ✗Do not delay calling 999 if a child is in immediate danger — anonymity should not cost a child their safety
Frequently asked questions
Can my anonymity ever be broken?
Crimestoppers' systems are designed so that no one — including Crimestoppers' own staff and the police — can identify the caller. In more than 30 years of operating in the UK, the charity states it has never had a caller's identity revealed. The route is genuinely anonymous, with one practical caveat: if you tell the call handler something that could only have come from one person, that may make you identifiable by inference. Try to share the information in a way that does not narrow you down.
What does Crimestoppers not do?
Crimestoppers does not investigate crimes, attend incidents, remove online content, or provide ongoing support to children or victims. It is solely an anonymous route for passing information to police. For child safeguarding support, use the NSPCC (0808 800 5000) or Childline (0800 1111). For removing illegal images, use the Internet Watch Foundation.
What if the situation feels urgent right now?
If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101. Crimestoppers (0800 555 111) is for anonymous information. The NSPCC helpline (0808 800 5000) and Childline (0800 1111) provide safeguarding support. For a decision tree, see /tools/reporting-route-finder.
Sources and further information
- Crimestoppers UK — Crimestoppers Trust
- Fearless — for under-18s — Crimestoppers Trust
- Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline — Unseen UK
- NSPCC Helpline — NSPCC
This guidance is for informational purposes. It is not a substitute for emergency services or professional safeguarding support. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999 (UK) or 911 (US) now.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-14. This page provides general educational information, not legal or professional safeguarding advice. UK helplines and legislation may change — verify current details with the relevant organisation.