Bank Fraud Losses Surpass £1 Billion In UK In 2023
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
Scam losses in the United Kingdom fell by four percent last year, but still surpassed the £1 billion high point. According to reports, criminals went away with a sum of £1.17 billion via authorised and unauthorised fraud last year.
Losses that were incurred due to illegal transactions across cheques, remote banking, and payment cards stood at £708.7 million, indicating a decline of 3% from 2022. The overall figure of reported cases reached 2.7 million, with a two percent drop.
The Total Number Of APP Cases Increased By 12% To 232,429
Authorised push payment (APP) scam losses stood at £459.7million, showing a drop of 2% compared to the preceding year. This included £83.3million of business losses and 376.4million of personal losses.
The overall tally of APP cases increased by 12% to 232,429. The primary cause of this is purchase deceptions, where individuals are duped into paying for products that never arrive.
The overall number of these cases grew by 34% to more than 156,000 and the sum lost climbed 28%, reaching £85.9. This figure is the greatest loss and case count ever documented. Purchase scams made up 67% of the overall figure of APP cases.
Online platforms are not only the medium criminals use to dupe people. They also make use of emails, text messages, and phone calls to deceive individuals into sharing their passwords and personal details.
Usually, scammers begin by obtaining personal details from their victims to commit APP fraud, with the victim themselves making the payment. If this attempt is unsuccessful, the fraudster often has plenty of personal details to imitate their victims. Their goal is either to take over their current accounts or to secure credit cards under their identity.
Losses From Romance Scams Surged By 17% to £36.5 Million
The level of romance scam incidents, where individuals are misled into thinking they are in a relationship, also hit its highest points regarding losses and cases. It surged by 17% (to £36.5million) and 14% respectively.
The total number of scam cases where scammers impersonate the police or a bank and lure someone to send money to a “secure account” dropped by 37%. The sum that were lost to this kind of scam decreased by 28%.
Overall, victims were refunded £287.3 million for APP losses last year, making up 62% of the complete loss. This has declined from 59% in 2022.
The Head of economic crime at UK Finance, Ben Donaldson stated that the financial services sector continues to lead the way in preventing fraud, protecting customers, and supporting victims.
He added that with the upcoming changes to reimbursement rules, criminals may benefit from it and steal more funds. But this can be stopped if the telecommunication and technology industries take appropriate steps to prevent the fraud that multiplies on their networks and platforms.
