Fraudsters stole a staggering £1.17 billion from UK victims in 2024, according to new figures released by UK Finance. While overall fraud losses remained largely unchanged from 2023, the data reveals troubling trends in specific types of scams, particularly remote purchase fraud.
There were over 3.13 million confirmed cases of unauthorised fraud—a 14% increase year-on-year—with losses reaching £722 million, up 2%. Remote purchase fraud, involving the use of stolen card details to make online, phone, or mail order purchases, spiked by 22% in volume and 11% in losses, nearing £400 million.
In contrast, losses from contactless fraud fell for the first time since 2020, dropping by 1%, while card ID theft and remote banking fraud also saw declines. Remote banking fraud losses were down 7%, with a 17% fall in cases.
Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, where victims are tricked into transferring money to criminals, saw a 2% decline in losses to £450.7 million and a significant 20% drop in case numbers. However, investment fraud within this category surged, with £144.4 million lost—a 34% rise—despite fewer overall cases.
Ben Donaldson, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, emphasised the need for a stronger, more unified approach to combatting fraud. “We need a more proactive approach with the public and private sectors working more closely together… and the technology and telecoms sectors must step up and fight fraud originating on their platforms.”