Fraud crackdown helps stop the rise of online scams
UK Finance’s latest annual fraud report revealed that criminals stole £1.17bn in 2024, a figure similar to the amount reported by the trade body last year, despite the growth of online scams.
The report noted that fraud losses through authorised push payment (APP) dropped by two per cent to £450.7m, and cases fell by 20 per cent to under 186,000.
This figure was the lowest since 2020. A range of factors, including investments in technology that can help identify and flag potentially fraudulent activity, as well as efforts to educate and raise awareness among consumers, were all cited as reasons behind the decline.
However, the high number of online scams has continued to impact consumers. According to the report, 70 per cent of all fraud cases began online.
Fraud losses
Last year, there were 3.1m confirmed cases of unauthorised fraud (up 14 per cent compared to 2023), with losses two per cent higher, totalling £722m, the banking trade body’s data shows.
Cases of remote purchase fraud increased by 22 per cent to nearly 2.6m, and losses increased 11 per cent to just under £400m.
Despite high levels of fraud, in 2024, British banks prevented £1.45bn of unauthorised fraud. The report said stronger security systems helped prevent unauthorised fraud
Ben Donaldson, Managing Director of Economic Crime at UK Finance, explained: “The financial services industry works tirelessly to protect customers and prevent billions more from being stolen by fraudsters, but we know that criminals are always looking for new ways to exploit victims.”
He called for a more proactive approach, with the public and private sectors working more closely together, and emphasised the need for the technology and telecom sectors to step up.
Dal Sahota, head of trusted payments at LSEG Risk Intelligence, added: “The real goal must be prevention. To truly protect consumers and business, banks, tech firms, retailers, and telecoms must work together—implementing real-time payee checks and stronger identity verification—to stop fraud before it starts.”
Prosecutors new powers
Commenting on the results, Emma Shafton, a fraud expert at law firm Reed Smith, said: “The report confirms that there remains a fraud epidemic in the UK.”
She explained that the anti-fraud agency Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and other prosecutors have new weapons, warning that “they will use them.”
She explained that, “for years, the SFO lobbied hard for legal reform”, adding “this has been delivered in the shape of two new corporate criminal offences under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.”
“The senior manager offence created a statutory route to attribute criminal liability to a corporate for financial crimes committed by its senior managers, while the new failure to prevent fraud offence comes into force on 1 September this year.”
“The SFO, and other prosecutors, will be buoyed by these new weapons in their arsenal to combat fraud and financial crime. We can expect some big-ticket investigations to be announced over the coming year,” she added.