Criminals stole £1.17 billion through fraud in the UK last year, with a slight decline in authorized push payment fraud losses offset by a rise in remote purchase fraud.
Overall losses in 2024 remained largely unchanged from the previous year, according to figures from UK Finance. There were 3.13 million confirmed cases of unauthorized fraud, representing a 14% increase compared to 2023, with total losses reaching £722 million, up two percent.
Remote purchase fraud, where criminals use stolen card details to make online, phone, or mail order purchases, saw a 22% increase to nearly 2.6 million cases, with losses rising 11% to just under £400 million. In contrast, card ID theft cases and losses declined following a spike in 2023. Contactless fraud losses fell by one percent, marking the first reduction in this category since 2020, while remote banking losses dropped by seven percent, with cases falling 17%.
Authorized push payment (APP) fraud, which has received much attention due to increasing losses, decreased to £450.7 million, a two percent reduction from 2023. The number of APP cases also declined by 20%, falling to under 186,000. The largest APP losses stemmed from investment fraud, where criminals persuade victims to transfer money to fake funds or pay for non-existent investments, totaling £144.4 million in 2024, an increase of 34% despite a 24% drop in cases.
Ben Donaldson, MD of economic crime at UK Finance, emphasizes the need for a more proactive approach, urging greater collaboration between the public and private sectors. He highlights the importance of utilizing data and intelligence effectively, and calls on the technology and telecommunications sectors to enhance efforts against fraud originating on their platforms and networks.