Criminals steal over £500m through UK fraud in the first half of 2018
Criminals have stolen a total of £503.4m in authorised and unauthorised fraud from UK bank customers in the first half of 2018.
There were 34,128 cases of authorised push payment (APP) scams reported in the six months to June, with £145.4m lost, up 44% from the £101.2m reported a year ago, according to trade body UK Finance.
An APP scam is when an account holder is duped into authorising a payment to be made to another account, which under current legislation means that they have no legal protection to cover them for losses.
Purchase scams were the most common type of APP scam in the period, accounting for two thirds of the reported APP cases. This type of scams involves the victim paying in advance for a product or service which is never received or does not exist, it usually takes place online.
There were a total of 3,866 reported cases of impersonation scams in the period, where criminals masquerade as the police or bank to trick the victim into transferring money.
The finance industry prevented £705.7m from being stolen, UK Finance said, adding that it was working with consumer groups and the Payment Systems Regulator on proposals to tackle APP and other financial scams and to establish an industry code which clearly establishes the circumstances in which APP scam victims will be reimbursed by their payments provider.
Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, said that the proceeds gained from fraud and scams are likely to fund terrorism, people smuggling and drug trafficking. She also added that criminals usually gain information from data breaches and society must help stamp out the menace.
“The finance industry is committed to fighting back, investing millions in security systems and cyber defences to protect customers. We have brought in new standards to ensure scam victims get the help they need from their payments provider; we are supporting law enforcement in disrupting the criminals and freezing stolen money; and we are assisting the government in improving intelligence sharing to extinguish the threat,” she added.
The unauthorised fraud data on payment cards, remote banking and cheques for January to June 2018 shows combined total losses decreased by 2% year-on-year to £358.0 million.
Tony Blake, head of fraud prevention at the City of London Police's dedicated card and payment crime unit, said: “Criminals are after your money and they are clever at getting it, impersonating people and organisations to groom even the savviest into acting.
"If you get a call, text, email or social media message asking for your personal or financial details or to transfer money, it could be a scam so stop, think and take five. Check every request is genuine by doing some research and contact the organisation using the details from their official website, a latest bill or statement.”