A UK Finance report has found criminals stole £1.17 billion through unauthorised and authorised fraud in 2023, a 4% decrease compared with 2022. Banks prevented a further £1.25 billion of unauthorised fraud through advanced security systems.
Just over three-quarters (76%) of APP fraud cases started online and 16% started through telecommunications networks, UK Finance said. Where criminals are unable to socially engineer their victims into making authorised payments, they use the personal information gathered as well as stolen card details to either take over existing accounts or apply for new credit cards, UK Finance said.
Contactless card losses had jumped in 2022 as spending limits were increased during the coronavirus pandemic and there was a significant expansion in acceptance, the report said. It added: “Recent rises in contactless fraud have been increasing at a much slower pace than the expansion in transactions volumes and values.”
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Matt Hepburn, fraud spokesperson at TSB, which operates its own fraud refund guarantee, said: “We see first-hand the importance of giving innocent victims their money back – and welcome new rules that will ensure all bank customers receive a higher standard of protection against the devastating impact of fraud.”
Santander UK’s head of fraud risk management Chris Ainsley said: “While the industry has made significant progress protecting customers and preventing fraud, criminals last year walked away with over £1.1 billion.”
He added: “We owe it to consumers to stamp out this harrowing crime, and the only way we’ll do that is if we can prevent it happening at source, and to do that, we desperately need cross-industry collaboration – including banks, tech companies, telecoms and government – to work together to create meaningful change.”
Stop Scams UK CEO Mark Tierney also urged further collaborative efforts, saying: “It’s only by working together that we can help protect consumers and curb the misery inflicted upon ordinary people, whose lives can often be devastated when they unwittingly come into contact with a scam.”
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
