Britons lost more than half a billion pounds to criminals through fraud in the first six months of this year, according to new figures.
Criminals stole £580million through fraud according to a new report by UK Finance. This amounts to one theft by fraudsters every 12 seconds.
There was a 2 per cent drop in fraud instances when compared with the first six months of 2022, but the amount of fraud happening is still ‘far too high’ and the numbers are ‘absolutely staggering,’ according to the financial services trade body.
Social media continues to play a huge part, with the report showing that three quarters of fraud started online. Another 17 per cent started through phone calls and text messages.
Sinster: Britons lost over half a billion pounds to fraud in the first six months of 2023
UK Finance’s director of economic crime, Ben Donaldson, called on tech and telecoms companies to do more to tackle the scam epidemic.
‘We need to see much more effort from the social media and telecommunications sectors. If we are going to see a real difference we need them to work with us,’ he said.
Paul Davis, director of fraud prevention at TSB, added: ‘It’s clear from the big spike in push-payment fraud cases that online companies and telecoms firms must urgently introduce measures to protect the public from scams on their platforms.’
UK Finance divided fraud into two categories: authorised and unauthorised.
Authorised fraud is when someone is tricked into paying money into a scammer’s account, or handing over a password.
In other words, they take some kind of action or volunteer information which makes the fraud possible.
Unauthorised fraud refers to cases where the victim is not directly involved, for example purchases being made on a stolen credit card.
When this happens, banks and credit card companies are legally obliged to protect them from losses – whereas authorised fraud victims may find it harder to get their money back.
| Source | Volume of cases | Value of losses |
|---|---|---|
| Online | 77% | 32% |
| Telecommunications | 17% | 45% |
| 1% | 11% | |
| Other | 5% | 12% |
| UK Finance | ||
Within the total figure of £580million, unauthorised fraud losses across payment cards, remote banking and cheques reached £340.7 million in the first half of 2023, a three per cent drop compared to the same period in 2022.
The number of unauthorised fraud cases was 1.26 million, down two per cent on the same period in 2022.
Authorised fraud losses – also known as authorised push payments or APPs, accounted for £239.3million of total fraud, down one per cent compared to the same period in 2022.
But while fraudsters took slightly less money, the total number of cases was up 22 per cent to 116,324 – suggesting many more people have been affected.
The main driver behind this, according to UK Finance, is purchase scams – where people are tricked into paying for goods that never materialise.
These crimes often involve manipulation of the victim which can cause psychological and emotional harm
Ben Donaldson, UK Finance
Romance scams have also been growing persistently, with losses up 29 per cent and cases by more than a quarter.
Romance scams are a particularly manipulative form of fraud, where victims are tricked into believing they are in a relationship before being asked to send money.
Donaldson said: ‘In the first six months of this year ruthless criminals had already stolen more than half a billion pounds from victims through fraud.
‘In addition to the financial losses, these crimes often involve callous manipulation of the victim which can cause psychological and emotional harm.
‘As the UK Finance report shows, criminals are increasingly using social media, online platforms, texts, phone calls and emails to deceive victims into giving up their personal details and their money.
‘The financial services sector continues to lead the fight against these awful crimes. We are also currently the only sector that reimburses victims.
‘The only way we will prevent fraud is if other sectors do much more to help us deal with the criminality which is increasingly taking place on their platforms.’
Tricked: Scams are on the rise – and many will be targeted through their mobile phone
Three scams to watch out for right now
Separately, stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown has warned of scammers stepping up their attacks in the next few months.
It has said there are three events coming up which fraudsters will try and exploit in order to con people out of their hard-earned cash.
Cost of living payments
Eight million people on means-tested benefits will get the next £300 instalment of the cost-of-living payments between 31 October and 19 November. As a result, the Department of Work and Pensions has warned about scams in this area.
These payments will be made automatically, so benefit claimants don’t need to do anything extra to get them. However, they may not know this, and scammers are poised to cash in.
Criminals will send texts and emails, and make phone calls, pretending to be from the DWP or HMRC and asking people to make a claim in order to get the payment.
This will include sending personal details, which can then be used to extract money from them.
Nobody will legitimately be in touch with you this way, so if you get one of these messages, it’s a scam
HMRC scams
Some 12 million people will need to submit a self-assessment tax return by the end of January, and unfortunately this also presents an opportunity for scammers.
HMRC received 130,000 reports about tax scams in the 12 months to September 2023, and warns that self-assessment season is a peak time for fraud.
These scams typically involve texts, emails and phone calls claiming you can get a rebate if you hand over your bank details – which then enables the criminals to siphon off your funds.
Other common scams include messages telling you to update your tax details, and one even threatens arrest for tax evasion.
If you’re worried HMRC is trying to contact you, call the self-assessment hotline or go into your Government Gateway account to check. If a phone call or message seems suspicious, don’t give away any information and instead contact HMRC using the details on its website.
The run up to Christmas is a lucrative time for scammers who take advantage of the fact that more people (55%) will be shopping online for gifts
Christmas shopping
The Christmas season is an especially fruitful time for scammers. At Christmas, online shopping rises by a fifth and around 55 per cent of Britons do their Christmas shopping online.
Scams to watch out for include the failed transaction scam, where fraudsters take advantage of the fact you’re likely to have bought something online with the biggest retailers, so send emails saying a transaction has failed and asking for you to resubmit bank details.
They may also pretend to be delivery companies, asking for personal information.
Additionally, criminals will target shoppers by offering unmissable deals on the most popular items – but they don’t have these items to sell, they just take payments from people and scarper. Others, meanwhile, step up the sales of fakes – some through websites and others through social media.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown says: ‘The combination of all three will see scammers step up their attacks in the next few months, so you need to be on your guard to protect yourself and your money.’
