Annual Fraud

Report 2025
In partnership with
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 2

Contents

Our Fraud Data 4

UK Finance Foreword 5

The Industry Response 7

BioCatch Foreword 10

Fraud in 2024 12

Unauthorised Fraud Summary 21

Unauthorised Card Fraud (Debit, Credit and other payment cards) 22

Analysis by Unauthorised Card Fraud Case Type 24

Further Card Fraud Analysis 27

Unauthorised Cheque Fraud 30

Unauthorised Remote Banking Fraud 31

Overall Authorised Payment Fraud 33

APP Voluntary Code 34

Fraud Enabler Data 35

Further Analysis of the APP Scam Data 37

Payment Type 46

Payment Channel 47

Contributing Members 48

Our Fraud Data 49

 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 3

UK Finance is the collective voice for the banking and

finance industry. Representing more than 300 firms
across the industry, we’re a centre of trust, expertise and
collaboration at the heart of financial services.
Championing a thriving sector and building a better society.

The Economic Crime

team within UK Finance is
responsible for leading the
industry’s collective fight
against economic crime in
the UK, including fraud, anti-
money laundering (AML),
sanctions, anti-bribery,
corruption, and cybercrime.
UK Finance seeks to ensure
that the UK is the safest and
most transparent financial
centre in the world – thus
creating a hostile We represent our members by providing
environment for criminals by an authoritative voice to influence
working with members, law regulatory and political change, both in
enforcement, government the UK and internationally. We also act
agencies and industry. as advocates on behalf of members to
both media and customers, articulating
the industry’s achievements and building
its reputation. We offer research, policy
expertise, thought leadership and
advocacy in support of our work.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 4

Our Fraud Data

UK Finance publishes both the value of fraud losses and
the number of cases. The data is reported to us by our
members which include financial providers, credit, debit
and charge card issuers, and card payment acquirers.

E
ach incident of fraud does not equal Some caveats are required for the tables in
one person being defrauded but the document.
instead refers to the number of cards
or accounts defrauded. For example, if a fraud • Prevented values were not collected for all
was carried out on two cards, but they both fraud types prior to 2015.
belonged to the same person, this would • The sum of components may not equal the
represent two instances of fraud, not one. total due to rounding.
• Data series are subject to restatement,
All fraud loss figures, unless otherwise
based on corrections or the receipt of
indicated, are reported as gross. This means
additional information.
the figures represent the total value of fraud
including any money subsequently recovered
by a bank.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 5

UK Finance Foreword
F
raud is not a ‘victimless crime’. It causes have increased. This demonstrates the
severe harm to individuals, society, our longstanding principle that criminals change
economy, and our growth agenda. The their tactics and, closing one vulnerability
damage caused by these crimes is greater in isolation only leads them adapting and
than the financial losses, as the majority of exploiting others. To fight fraud effectively,
fraud victims have their confidence ripped we need strong leadership and a system-
away and many report that their mental wide, coordinated strategic approach.
health has been damaged. In some tragic
cases, the psychological impact of fraud can Rather than trying to ‘solve’ fraud, our
result in the loss of life through suicide. Fraud objective should be to protect as many
is an awful crime. people as possible by reducing and managing
the evolving threat. The most effective way
Fraud continues to be the most common to achieve this is through disruption and
crime in the UK. We have likely all suffered deterrence. Gathering, developing and acting
its consequences, either by being a victim on intelligence which enables us collectively to
ourselves or knowing someone who has. We disrupt the criminals, using a range of tactics, is
all live in a society which is damaged by the the most effective way to deter these criminals
organised crime groups responsible for the from targeting the UK. Every one of us has a
bulk of fraud cases, who are also involved role to play in achieving that outcome.
in other types of crime which cause further
individual, societal and economic harm. The Payment Systems Regulator
implemented mandatory reimbursement
The damage doesn’t stop at our borders – rules in October last year. This will increase
fraud can involve appalling abuse including, the number of consumers being reimbursed,
as recently reported in the media, where a positive outcome which UK Finance and our
victims are trafficked across borders and members fully support, but there is nothing
forced to work in ‘scam factories’, against to suggest it has had any impact on the
their will and in fear of their lives. perpetrators. If anything, it may have resulted
in them focusing more on international
UK Finance and our members will continue to payments. In addition, whilst reimbursement
do all that we can to protect customers and is a good thing for consumers, it does
society from these terrible crimes. nothing to repair the psychological harms,
Our latest figures show that Authorised nor does it protect our economy. Again,
Push Payment (APP) fraud, where victims we need a system-wide, strategic approach
are manipulated by criminals into sending to countering fraud, rather than tactical
them money, has fallen, both the total interventions which target individual
amount lost and the overall number of cases. components of the broader threat.
We assess this was the result of a number APP fraud involves the callous psychological
of interventions, particularly the ongoing exploitation of the victim, which happens
major investment in fraud protections by the online or over the telephone. This occurs long
banking and financial services industry. before any payment is attempted, when your
Our data also shows that other types of bank might have the opportunity to identify
fraud, notably remote purchase fraud, it as fraud and protect you. In many respects,
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 6

our members are the last line of defence Given many of the perpetrators are beyond
against fraud, because the online services the reach of our own criminal justice system,
and telecommunications sectors have we cannot respond to fraud as we would a
opportunities to identify and disrupt these conventional criminal threat; the scale of this
crimes long before we do. threat, and the harms it causes, means that it
should be regarded as a national security issue.
The banking and financial services sector
contributes more to the fight against fraud Fighting fraud more effectively would
than any other, and if the online services and have a direct positive impact on economic
telecommunications sectors contributed to the growth. Ensuring that the UK is a safe and
same extent then the disruptive and deterrent attractive place to do business, and that
impacts on criminals would be significant. consumers have the confidence to engage
with innovative financial services products,
We also need the public to play their part. We and with the digital economy more broadly is
all have a responsibility to keep ourselves and critical. A secure financial system is inherently
our families safe by protecting our personal more investable.
information from criminals. We should guard
our personal information as closely as we Our collective priority should be preventing
protect the keys to our homes. these crimes from happening in the first
place. We need layers of defence spanning
The UK Finance Take Five to Stop Fraud the technology, telecommunications, financial
campaign contains very helpful advice to help services, and public sectors.
us all stay safe. We continue to work in close
partnership with our colleagues in the Home Proactive prevention is the key to managing
Office on consumer education, including this national threat, because action will beat
through their Stop! Think Fraud initiative. reaction 100 per cent of the time.

The government has committed to publishing

a new, expanded fraud strategy before the
end of this year. We welcome this and will
be calling on the government to prioritise
proactive initiatives that achieve tangible
outcomes. We need to bring the public
and private sectors closer together and to
use data and intelligence more effectively
to disrupt criminals and deter them from
attacking the UK.

Ben Donaldson
Managing Director,
Economic Crime,
UK Finance
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 7

The Industry Response

The financial services industry is committed to protecting its customers from fraud, and
defending the security, prosperity and reputation of the UK. The sector remains at the
forefront of the fight against fraud and scams, providing deep experience, expertise
and continued investment. It also works closely with other sectors, government, and law
enforcement to prevent and disrupt this criminal activity and bring criminals to justice. The
industry is responding to this threat through multiple activities:
w

Activity Achievements
Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU) In 2024 the operational police unit saved the sector and its customers
– an industry funded fully operational police unit with a over £64.9 million, up from £33 million last year. It also disrupted 90
national remit, formed as a collaboration between UK organised crime groups (up from 10 in 2023) and secured 75 convictions
Finance, the City of London Police and the Metropolitan (up from 68).
Police Service. The DCPCU has an ongoing brief to
investigate, target and, where appropriate, arrest and Case Study - Operation Henhouse:
seek successful prosecution of offenders responsible
for fraud affecting the payments, banking and finance The DCPCU took part in a nationwide fraud intensification operation,
industry. which measured suspect interventions, warrants executed, organised
crime disruptions and assets seized. As of March the results of this
collaboration were: 22 arrests, 13 warrants and £258,398 worth of
assets and cash seized. In two of the cases DCPCU officers undertook
operational activity targeting individuals and OCGs who had previously
been involved in serious and violent crime and have now been charged
with committing fraud.

Intelligence Unit – a dedicated unit within UK Finance In 2024, the Intelligence Unit disseminated 2,488,026 compromised card
which shares intelligence between and across law numbers enabling card issuers to protect their customers. The unit sent out
enforcement and the banking and finance industry on 514 alerts to the industry and hosted 128 intelligence calls over the year.
emerging threats, data breaches and compromised card
details. Members exchanged over 700,000 intelligence records with associated
savings of £5.9m. 90% of these records were shared with Law Enforcement.

The Banking Protocol rapid response scheme – an The scheme prevented £61.3million from being stolen from customers in
initiative launched by UK Finance, National Trading 2024, up from £54.7million in 2023. It also resulted in 12,034 emergency
Standards and local police forces which trains bank staff calls and 136 arrests.
to identify the warning signs that suggest a customer
may be falling victim to a scam, before alerting their local
police force to intervene and investigate.

(Case study on next page)

 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 8

Activity Achievements
Case Study - Banking Protocol:

Multiple parties were involved in the protection of a vulnerable victim

in Leeds, including Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team, Social workers,
DWP, West Yorkshire Police (WYP) safeguarding and Leeds Building
Society. The incident took place in a Leeds building society branch when
an elderly vulnerable male customer with learning disabilities entered
and asked for a withdrawal above an agreed cap. The society colleagues
were concerned that the elderly male was being financially exploited,
as there were two people waiting outside the branch for him, and a
change in activity was noted on the account. The branch immediately
instigated banking protocol and contacted the local police. Whilst the
suspects outside the branch had gone when the officers arrived, the
victim advised more suspects were at his home address. WYP attended
his home and officers made two arrests. It was also believed by WYP that
the home address was being used for cuckooing. After collaboration with
Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team, Social workers and DWP, the victim
has now been moved to supported living accommodation and his home
address has been secured by the landlord to stop further issues.

Vulnerable Victims Notification – a UK Finance/ In 2024 624 notifications were received by banks from law enforcement
law enforcement initiative that enables local police regarding customer vulnerabilities to fraud, a 107% increase on the total
forces to notify financial service providers of customer number of referrals received in 2023. Six additional banks joined in 2024
vulnerabilities which may make them susceptible to taking it to 20, and currently two thirds of all police forces (30/45) are
fraud. Twenty-two regional police forces, fourteen now using this process.
banking brands and National Trading Standards have
signed up to the process.

Best Practice Standards (BPS) System: UK Finance There are currently 46 payment services providers participating in BPS.
system recording real time information when an APP In 2024 160,726 cases of APP fraud were created in the system with
fraud occurs, including the ‘enablers’ of the fraud outside £121.5 million returned to victims.
of the payment system.
2024 stats provided as at 28/04/2025. There may be a minimal number
On behalf of the sector UK Finance led the industry of cases that are duplicated in the reporting due to them being present
response to the new PSR APP reimbursement rules which on different BPS workflows.
came into force on 7 October 2024. Through ongoing
engagement and feedback, stakeholder workshops,
delivery of the APP Best Practice Guide for industry, and a
tactical claims management solution, it ensured that banks
could process any claims from customers from day one.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 9

Activity Achievements
Cross sector – collaboration with other sectors (eg Cross sector deliverables in 2024:
telecoms, tech companies) and also working with
the regulators (such as Ofcom) to drive specific data • In November, the PSR announced plans to publish data on fraud
and intelligence activity to mitigate live scam attacks enablement, to highlight the platforms and services that are most
continues, while also ensuring effective regulation is often exploited by fraudsters and was a welcome response to our
being enacted. advocacy on holding both the technology and telecoms sectors to
account on fraud.
•  cams Signal – this collaborative work with GSMA (trade association
S
representing mobile operators) delivered the Scam Signal solution
to fight fraud. The solution enables financial service providers to
receive real time mobile network signals to prevent fraud/scam
losses of customers who may have been targeted through social
engineering calls. This has since been found to also be effective on
card payments.
•  nline Safety Act: UK Finance on behalf of industry has been
O
working closely with Ofcom to help shape the new rules on the online
services measures and mandating technology solutions, a material
benefit to tackling fraud in the ecosystem more effectively.
•  fcom’s Illegal Harms Statement published in December included
O
the DCPCU as a trusted flagger for information sharing with
platforms, with Ofcom encouraging two-way data sharing.

Customer education and awareness campaigns 38 major banks and building societies are currently signed up to the Take
– UK Finance delivers year-round customer education Five campaign, bringing the industry together to give people simple and
through the ‘Take Five to Stop Fraud’ campaign, helping consistent fraud awareness advice. In 2024 the campaign:
people and businesses protect themselves from fraud.
• Ran Take Five Week when we released the ScamSceptible online tool so
Education and awareness delivered to schools about people can test their susceptibility to scams based on different stressors.
money mules through the Don’t be Fooled campaign. • Hosted Stop Inn, physical pop-ups in London, Manchester and
Glasgow, where people tested their ability to stop an action by using
mind-reading technology to pour a drink.
• Teamed up with Mencap to help people with learning disabilities stay
safe from scams through a series of easy-read guides.
• Developed resources to help raise awareness of fraud amongst
people who speak English as a second language.

• Launched a TikTok channel to reach new audiences.

The campaign continues to deliver fraud prevention advice and

education through an ongoing programme of activity.

Don’t Be Fooled has created primary and secondary teaching resources

to educate children about the dangers and consequences of becoming
a money mule. The free materials have also been specifically adapted
for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. They include
classroom and assembly presentations, posters, student flyers and
parent letters. The resources have been awarded the Young Enterprise
Quality Mark and over 430 schools have registered to use them.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 10

BioCatch Foreword

I
n these increasingly uncertain times, one The fight against fraud is relentless and
thing we can all count on is the persistent typically asymmetrical; criminals care little
nature of the fraud threat. The most for ethics, regulation, or the harm they
recent figures from the Office of National cause. Fraud is a battle between trust and
Statistics (ONS) suggest that fraud increased exploitation, a human challenge.
by 19% last year, underlining that beyond
the perspective offered by the financial The exploitation of technology by criminals
services sector, the threat toward customers heralded an explosion in digital fraud, which
continues to escalate. It is incumbent on all now accounts for 50% of all online crime
of us to recognise that such criminality also in the UK. With enforcement of the Online
significantly threatens the national security Safety Act still on the horizon, the role played
and prosperity of the United Kingdom. by other sectors remains worthy of mention
as it highlights that mitigating fraud risk isn’t
The UK is somewhat of a bellwether for solely an issue for the financial sector.
fraud, and while we can debate the causes of
certain shifts, the UK Finance Annual Report Whilst the current threat remains severe,
highlights the industry’s successes and it would be remiss of me not to highlight
emerging challenges. forthcoming challenges, specifically the
arrival of AI tools capable of autonomously
Last year saw the introduction of mandatory planning and executing tasks. Inevitably,
reimbursement for Authorised Push Payment criminals will leverage Agentic AI, which
Fraud (APP). Aside from reducing the financial will undoubtedly supercharge their use
detriment suffered by consumers, the new of existing AI tools such as large language
regulation has also sought to incentivise models and generative forms of AI.
improved detection of financial crime. APP
losses fell by two per cent to just over £450 As with legitimate businesses, Agentic AI will
million in 2024, but case volumes also declined enable criminals to scale, simplify, and cut the
by 20 per cent—representing the lowest cost of execution. Consequently, we should
figures for cases and losses since 2021. anticipate that their returns will potentially
increase. Identifying behavioural anomalies will
Notably, while APP has declined, the trend for be pivotal to the mitigation of this new risk.
remote purchase fraud has been reversed,
likely signalling a shift in fraudsters’ tactics. A twelve per cent increase in fraud cases
suggests that criminals have to target greater
With the reimbursement cost split 50/50 numbers of customers to achieve comparable
between the sending and receiving financial levels of return. Whilst this likely increases
institutions, the incentive for financial their costs and consequently reduces their
institutions to identify money mules in real returns, it also has a similar impact on the
time has gained importance. Globally, our sector as it strives to protect customers.
customers detected almost 2 million mule
accounts in 2024. In many cases, that risk was Aside from the financial impact, the 3.31
identified prior to receipt of fraudulent funds. million cases recorded by UK Finance
have a human cost. Many of the victims in
those cases will have suffered significant
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 11

inconvenience, stress and emotional harm. We Earlier in this foreword, I observed that the fight
cannot measure the cost of fraud in monetary against fraud is fundamentally asymmetrical.
terms alone, nor should we restrict ourselves While this remains the case, we’re proud to
to considering the direct cost of fraud. be part of the solution. While £1.17 billion was
Considering the human impact serves to lost to fraudsters, a further £1.45 billion of
underline the absolute necessity for the early unauthorised fraud was prevented by industry,
detection and mitigation of financial crime. a fifth higher than in 2023 and equivalent to
67p in every £1 attempted.
Identifying anomalies in customer behaviour
is integral to the mitigation of authorised Returning to the present, despite escalating
and unauthorised fraud. Split liability risk, it is notable that the industry’s concerted
also highlights the potential for closer efforts have successfully curtailed growth in
collaboration through effective real-time the amount lost to criminals; regardless, they
data sharing. Fraud Minister Lord Hanson, in still made off with £1.17 billion.
his recent keynote at the Global Anti-Scams
Summit, placed emphasis on such innovation.

2024 saw the launch in Australia of the

world’s first inter-bank, behaviour— and
device-based, fraud and scams intelligence-
sharing network. We provide our customers
with real-time intelligence, allowing sending
institutions to review the transaction before
any money leaves the sender’s account.

National Australia Bank (NAB) has

demonstrated the scope for behaviour to drive
early interventions in payment journeys. NAB
customers abandoned $48.5 million worth of
payments over a two-month period following
the introduction of dynamic scam warnings.

Jonathan Frost
Director, Global Advisory,
BioCatch
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 12

01
Fraud in 2024
£1.17B
stolen through fraud in 2024,
3.31M
confirmed cases, 12 per
broadly unchanged from 2023 cent more than in 2023

£1.45B
of unauthorised fraud prevented by industry, up 16 per cent than
in 2023 and equivalent to 67p in every £1 attempted

Unauthorised fraud
In an unauthorised fraudulent transaction, the account holder themselves does not provide
authorisation for the payment to proceed, and the transaction is carried out by a third-party.

Authorised fraud
In an authorised fraudulent transaction, the account holder themselves is tricked into sending
money to a fraudster posing as a genuine payee.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 13

Losses
Total value of gross losses (unauthorised and authorised)

2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Unauthorsied £783.8m £730.4m £726.9m £708.7m £722.0m 2%

Authorised £420.7m £583.2m £485.2m £459.7m £450.7m -2%

Total £1204.6m £1313.6m £1212.1m £1168.4m £1172.6m 0.4%

Cases
Total number of confirmed cases (where a loss has occurred)

2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Unauthorised 2,910,509 2,912,467 2,781,311 2,734,934 3,127,951 14%

Authorised 154,614 195,996 207,372 232,427 185,733 -20%

Total 3,065,123 3,108,463 2,988,683 2,967,361 3,313,684 12%

*Comparable data not available for authorised fraud prior to 2020

This year’s annual fraud report, which £1.17 billion, broadly unchanged from the total
provides the most comprehensive round- losses in 2023 and lower than losses recorded
up of fraud cases and losses in the UK in the years 2020 to 2022. However, case
in 2024, sees both positive and negative numbers saw a notable twelve per cent jump
developments in the fight against fraud. last year, compared with 2023, to stand at 3.31
million (chart 1). This is the highest number of
Overall, our latest data indicates that the total cases in our series of comparable data.
amount lost to criminals last year, across both
unauthorised and authorised channels, was

Chart 1: Total fraud cases and losses, millions

ms ms
£1,350 3.40

£1,300 3.20

3.00
£1,250
2.80
£1,200
2.60
£1,150
2.40
£1,100 2.20

£1,050 2.00
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Cases Losses

Source: UK Finance
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 14

While this points to a reduction in the From a policy perspective, a significant focus
average loss per case, criminals are targeting of the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and
ever more victims in order to maintain flows payment service providers has been the
of illicit funds with more people having to introduction of mandatory reimbursement
deal with the resulting stress, inconvenience of victims of APP fraud from October 7th
and emotional harm that entails. As criminals 2024. This has required additional investment
are having to work harder to socially engineer in systems to operationalise the new
and trick victims, as well as navigating reimbursement rules (see Box on page 37 for
banking and payments systems to find further details) and further upped the ante
weaknesses, the industry was equally doing on prevention.
more to step up and meet that challenge.
In 2024, overall APP losses fell by two per
For example, last year saw a 16 per cent cent to just over £450 million, but cases fell
increase in the amount of prevented by a much more substantial 20 per cent –
unauthorised fraud – with increased the lowest figures for both cases and losses
prevention across all categories, cards, since 2021. These declines began well in
cheques, and remote banking. This figure advance of implementation of the new PSR
represents fraud that was identified and rules and can be attributed to the collective
stopped during the payment process and does action noted above, rather than a single
not capture cases where effective warning bullet solution, highlighting that progress
messages, for example, led to a payment requires a whole range of actions and for
being abandoned earlier in the journey. those to be implemented consistently right
across the industry.
APP cases and
losses down
In addition to the significant uplift in
unauthorised fraud prevention, this year’s
data show a fall in authorised push payment
(APP) fraud. This fraud type spiked during the
pandemic, but the value of losses has been on
a declining trend since 2021. However, even as
losses were on the way down, cases continued
to rise, peaking at over 230,000 in 2023.

These trends have brought about an increased

focus from the banking and payments sector,
and policy makers, on tackling the scourge
of APP fraud and its impact on victims and
society. Industry has been acting on a number
of fronts, from investing in technology that can
help identify and flag potentially fraudulent
activity, to educating and raising awareness
of risks amongst consumers, including UK
Finance’s Take Five campaign (see below).
In addition, banking and payments firms
have also sought to bring tech platforms and
telecoms companies to the table, given that https://www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/
the vast majority of APP fraud begins outside
of the industry.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 15

Also encouraging, as illustrated in chart 2, But with heightened industry attention on

are the falls in APP cases across all categories APP fraud, criminals have sought to extract
and falls in losses across four of the eight larger sums from more ‘profitable’ scams.
categories, notably purchase and investment Purchase scams still account for seven in
scams. There were increased losses in CEO ten APP scams, despite falling 16 per cent in
fraud, which can be volatile from year 2024 compared with 2023, but it has been
to year, and a small increase in advance climbing the rankings in terms of losses.
fee losses. A one per cent increase in losses in 2024
means purchase scams are now the second
Across investment and purchase scams the fall largest category by loss of all APP scam types,
in cases, but rise in losses, marks a change in whereas in 2020 it was the fifth largest (out
profile of APP fraud compared with what we of eight). The average loss per case has risen
observed in recent years. In 2023, the story of from £606 in 2020 to £663 in 2024.
APP fraud was one of increasing volumes of
lower value, mostly purchase scam cases. For
fraudsters, it was previously a numbers game,
attacking a large number of victims through,
for example, too good to be true purchase
scams mostly originating online.

Chart 2: APP fraud by scam type, number of cases

250,000

200,000

150,000

100,000

50,000

0
2022 2023 2024
Invoice & Mandate CEO IMP: Police/Bank
IMP: Other Purchase Investment
Romance Advance Fee

Source: UK Finance

We see a similar trend across investment this is likely to be amongst the drivers of the
scams with cases falling by nearly a quarter in loss increase in 2024.
2024 to the lowest since 2020, but a sharp 34
per cent increase in losses – the first recorded Unlike other APP fraud categories, where we
rise since 2021. Investment scams accounted tend to see a dominant enabler of scams,
for nearly a third of all APP losses last year. victims report more varied compromise
We noted last year that investment scams methods with around half enabled online and
linked to cryptocurrencies have been on the a quarter via telecoms channels.
rise and with increasing value and popularity,
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 16

One cautionary note on investment scam been a targeted by fraudsters in this way, it
cases; by nature these tend to be larger and is likely that some cases which started some
more complex and can therefore take longer years ago are still washing through our data.
to resolve. Our data only reports closed APP However, progress here is good evidence
cases, and as these investment scam cases of the positive impact of education and
are worked through, we could see an upward awareness campaigns, not just by industry,
revision to the 2024 data in a future year as but the profile of this risks of romance scams
more information becomes available. has also been regularly raised in the media.

More positively, the APP categories in which Similarly, we also see another significant
we see significant downward movement drop in impersonation fraud – both criminals
in both cases and losses are romance impersonating police or bank staff and other
scams, which are particularly harmful with forms of impersonation. Taken together both
impacts beyond the risk of financial loss, and cases and losses across these categories
impersonation scams. were around a quarter lower compared with
2023. Again, we can conclude that effective
The number of reported romance scams fell warning messages, especially from banks on
two per cent in 2024, the first fall we’ve seen how they will and will not contact customers,
in this series, and losses declined by a more has impacted on behaviour.
material 17 per cent. Given that it can take
some time for victims to realise they have

Chart 3: APP loses by scam type, £millions

£150m

£130m

£110m

£90m

£70m

£50m

£30m

£10m

-£10m Invoice & CEO IMP: IMP: Other Purchase Investment Romance Advance
Mandate Police/Bank Fee

2022 2023 2024

Source: UK Finance

In addition to the significant progress 7th and the end of 2024. This early trend was
on prevention, industry also moved at in line with the expectations of industry and
pace to implement the PSR’s mandatory the regulator. It is important to note that the
reimbursement rules. In preliminary PSR’S data is not directly comparable with
reporting, the PSR found that 86 per cent of UK Finance figures on APP reimbursement
money lost to APP scams that were in scope reported later in this report due to reporting
of its rules was returned to victims between differences and what is in scope for
the policy becoming operational on October mandatory reimbursement.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 17

Remote banking fraud heads lower

Turning to trends in unauthorised fraud, customers. In 2023, an estimated 87 per cent
a further effect of the investment in fraud of UK adults were registered for at least one
detection and prevention by banking and form of remote banking with mobile banking
payments firms is a fall in remote banking seeing the biggest rise in reported registered
fraud cases. This includes fraud across users in 2023. In addition, for remote banking
telephone, online, and mobile banking users, mobile channels are the most common
channels. for people transferring money and making
payments (chart 4).
The use of remote banking has become
business as usual for the majority of banking

Chart 4: Services used by remote banking users, percentage of

those using each channel
70%

60%

50%

40%

30%
Online Mo bile Online Mo bile Online Mo bile
2021 2022 2023
Paying other individuals Ma king other payments or transfers

Source: UK Finance

In line with increasing adoption, we have of falls in internet banking fraud cases and
previously seen a steady, corresponding rise losses, while fraud via telephone banking has
in mobile banking fraud. However, the tide been broadly stable over the same period (see
may have started to turn in 2024 with our chart 5). Overall, fraud cases and losses across
data pointing to a nine per cent fall in the all forms of remote banking declined 17 per
number of cases involving mobile banking cent and seven per cent respectively, taking
and only a modest 3 per cent increase in both to the lowest levels reported since we
losses (this compares with the 33 per cent began collecting this data in 2015. Additionally,
rise seen in 2023). This fall is likely to have nearly £250 million of losses was prevented,
been driven by the same factors that have 14 per cent up on the previous year.
contributed to reductions in APP fraud.

The decline in mobile banking cases brings it

in line with other forms of remote banking –
2024 also marked the fourth consecutive year
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 18

Chart 5: Remote banking cases and losses, £millions and number

£200m 80,000

£160m
60,000

£120m
40,000
£80m

20,000
£40m

£0m 0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Internet cases Telephone cases Mo bile cases

Internet losses Telephone losses Mo bile losses

Source: UK Finance

These trends should continue to give And we see evidence of this in the rise of
consumers confidence that firms are focused card fraud in 2024 – this is the flip side of the
on the security of these banking channels, progress on APP fraud. Total unauthorised
and that they offer a safe and convenient way card fraud cases had been on a downward
to access banking and payment services. trajectory from 2020, with a number of
factors from the implementation of Secure
But….remote purchase Customer Authentication to increasing the
expiry dates on cards to reduce the number
card fraud heads higher of cards in transit bearing down in incidences
of card fraud. But in 2024 this trend reversed,
As we have highlighted in previous reports, and our data shows a 15 per cent increase
as fraud becomes more difficult in one in the number of cases and a four per cent
avenue, as a result of improved awareness increase in losses (chart 6).
or detection, criminals’ tactics will adapt,
and they will use new ways to compromise
individuals and exploit any system weakness.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 19

Chart 6: Card fraud losses and cases, percentage change in 2024

30%

20%

10%

0%

-10%

-20%

-30%
Remote Card not Lost & stolen Counterfeit Card ID Theft
purchase received

Cases Losses

Source: UK Finance

By far the largest driver of this rise was a they can authenticate fraudulent online card
22 per cent increase in remote purchase transactions. Developments in 2024 would
fraud cases, with losses up by 11 per cent suggest that this has stepped up a gear
compared with 2023. With over two and a and the risk of further increases is one that
half million cases of remote purchase fraud industry is alive to.
in 2024, this is greater than incidences of
card fraud across all categories prior to 2018. Across other types of card fraud, data point
In contrast to the shift we saw in APP fraud to either stable or declining trends in other
towards lower volumes of higher value cases, categories over the past year. Card ID theft
remote purchase fraud is moving in the other cases and losses have fallen back after a
direction – high volume, low value cases. The spike in 2023. Also continuing to decline are
average remote purchase case value has instances of counterfeit fraud. Instances of
more than halved since 2015 from around lost and stolen card fraud continued to drop
£354 to £155. back in 2024, for the second year running,
though there was a small increase in the
Our data indicates that around four-fifths of level of losses. Encouragingly, and linked to
the cases were related to e-commerce and trends in lost and stolen fraud, cases of fraud
split roughly evenly between authenticated using contactless also fell last year, despite
and non-authenticated. Our discussions a four per cent increase in the number of
with industry point to an increase in the transactions on UK-issued cards over the
compromise of one-time passcodes (OTPs), same period.
which are used to register digital wallets and
compromise cards. This perhaps points to an The rise in unauthorised card fraud,
over-confidence in OTPs and the protection therefore, is very much down to
they offer customers, which is now being developments in remote purchase fraud. In
exploited to a growing degree by criminals. further evidence of the scale of escalation
In last year’s report, we had indicated the in attack levels on cards, the amount of
risks around fraudsters’ circumventing card fraud prevented by industry also saw a
these protections, using sophisticated social material 12 per cent increase to over £1.45
engineering techniques to trick customers billion, or 67p in every £1 attempted.
into divulging their one-time passcodes so
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 20

Fighting fraud on
all fronts
This year’s data offers some reassurance that
concerted efforts by industry can move the
needle on fraud losses – vital to stemming the
flow of funds to criminals and limiting the harm
to individuals. The progress made on bearing
down on APP fraud is testament to that.

But it also highlights the ability of fraudsters

to adapt and evolve tactics to compromise
individuals by other means. This perhaps
offers two lessons for policy makers and
stakeholders in the fight against fraud. Firstly,
we cannot assume the battle on APP fraud
has been won – ongoing investment in the
solutions that identify and prevent fraud will
remain a priority and we need to ensure that
efforts to educate consumers do not fade
into the background.

Secondly, if industry’s focus pivots to one

particular type of activity, so will the tactics of
criminals. Future strategies must, therefore,
take a broad-based approach, working across
the spectrum of fraud to make the UK more
secure.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 21

02
Unauthorised Fraud
Summary
Unauthorised fraud includes fraud on credit, debit and
other payment cards, cheques and remote banking
channels.
• Unauthorised fraud losses were £722 million in 2024 an
increase of two per cent from 2023.

• There were 3.13 million confirmed cases of unauthorised

fraud reported in 2024, a 14 per cent rise on the total reported in 2023.

• The industry prevented a further £1.45 billion of unauthorised

fraud – equivalent to 67p in every £1 of attempted unauthorised fraud
being stopped without a loss occurring.

Prevented: £1.15bn (12%) Prevented: £53.7m (336%)

Cards Gross: £572.6m (4%) Cheques Gross: £8.1m (44%)
Case: 3,095,687 (15%) Case: 1,106 (-8%)

Prevented: £247.6m (14%)

Remote Gross: £141.3m (-7%)
Banking
Case: 31,158 (-17%)
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 22

03
Unauthorised
Card Fraud
Debit, Credit and other payment cards
This section covers all types of unauthorised card losses. Fraud losses on UK-issued cards totalled
£572.6 million in 2024, a four per cent rise from £551.3 million in 2023.

Losses
Total value of gross losses

Values 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Prevented £843.5m £986.0m £984.8m £1126.4m £1007.5m £983.4m £966.6m £974.2m £1021.6m £1148.3m 12%

Lost & stolen £74.1m £96.3m £92.9m £95.1m £94.8m £78.9m £77.2m £100.2m £104.0m £107.5m 3%

CNR £11.7m £12.5m £10.2m £6.3m £5.2m £4.4m £3.9m £4.0m £3.0m £2.9m -4%

Counterfeit £45.7m £36.9m £24.2m £16.3m £12.8m £8.7m £4.7m £4.7m £4.7m £3.9m -17%

Remote purchase £398.4m £432.3m £408.4m £506.4m £470.2m £452.6m £412.5m £395.7m £360.5m £399.6m 11%

Card ID Theft £38.2m £40.0m £29.8m £47.3m £37.7m £29.7m £26.3m £51.7m £79.1m £58.7m -26%

Total £568.1m £618.1m £565.4m £671.4m £620.6m £574.2m £524.5m £556.3m £551.3m £572.6m 4%

UK fraud £379.7m £417.9m £407.5m £496.6m £449.9m £414.5m £384.0m £416.2m £416.8m £418.4m 0.4%

International fraud £188.4m £200.1m £158.0m £174.8m £170.7m £159.7m £140.5m £140.1m £134.5m £154.2m 15%
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 23

Cases
Total number of confirmed cases (where a loss has occurred). Figures relate to cards and not
individual customers.

Cases 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Lost & stolen 143,802 231,164 350,279 434,991 460,142 321,994 325,501 401,340 397,549 378,591 -5%
CNR 10,719 11,377 10,903 10,046 7,907 8,435 8,941 8,848 5,933 6,772 14%

Counterfeit 86,021 108,597 85,025 58,636 65,907 52,782 24,908 19,594 18,070 14,763 -18%
Remote purchase 1,113,084 1,437,832 1,398,153 2,050,275 2,157,418 2,417,866 2,425,099 2,221,026 2,127,201 2,586,217 22%
Card ID Theft 33,566 31,756 29,156 63,791 54,165 34,545 38,753 82,064 142,445 109,344 -23%
Total 1,387,192 1,820,726 1,873,516 2,617,739 2,745,539 2,835,622 2,823,202 2,732,872 2,691,198 3,095,687 15%

Fraud to turnover ratio

Year Ratio Change 0.090

2015 0.075 3% 0.080

2016 0.084 12% 0.070

2017 0.083 -1% 0.060

2018 0.070 -16% 0.050

2019 0.084 20% 0.040

2020 0.076 -10% 0.030

2021 0.063 -18% 0.020

2022 0.060 -5% 0.010

2023 0.058 -3% 0.000
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
2024 0.060 3%
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 24

04
Analysis by Unauthorised
Card Fraud Case Type
Lost and Stolen Card Fraud
Value = £107.5m (+3%) Cases = 378,591 (-5%)
This fraud occurs when a criminal uses a lost or stolen card to make a purchase or payment
(whether remotely or face-to-face) or takes money out at an ATM or in a branch. Typically, this
involves obtaining cards through low-tech methods such as distraction thefts and entrapment
devices attached to ATMs.

Lost and Stolen 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value £74.1m £96.3m £92.9m £95.1m £94.8m £78.9m £77.2m £100.2m £104.0m £107.5m 3%
Cases 143,802 231,164 350,279 434,991 460,142 321,994 325,501 401,340 397,549 378,591 -5%

Notes:

• Loss total highest ever reported

• One third of all lost & stolen fraud spend is contactless

Card not received

Value = £2.9m (-4%) Cases = 6,772 (+14%)
This type of fraud occurs when a card is stolen in transit, after a card issuer sends it out and
before the genuine cardholder receives it. This often occurs in properties with communal
letterboxes, such as flats, and student halls of residence.

Card not received 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value £11.7m £12.5m £10.2m £6.3m £5.2m £4.4m £3.9m £4.0m £3.0m £2.9m -4%
Cases 10,719 11,377 10,903 10,046 7,907 8,435 8,941 8,848 5,933 6,772 14%

Notes:

• Loss total lowest ever reported

• Banks now issuing cards with five year expiry dates, resulting in fewer cards in transit and
therefore reduced opportunities for them to be intercepted.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 25

Counterfeit Card Fraud

Value = £3.9m (-17%) Cases = 14,763 (-18%)
This fraud occurs when a criminal creates a fake card using information obtained from the
magnetic stripe.

Counterfeit Card 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value £45.7m £36.9m £24.2m £16.3m £12.8m £8.7m £4.7m £4.7m £4.7m £3.9m -17%
Cases 86,021 108,597 85,025 58,636 65,907 52,782 24,908 19,594 18,070 14,763 -18%

Notes:

• Lowest totals on record for both losses and cases volumes.

• Fraud spend restricted to those countries which do not utilise chip & PIN technology.

Remote Purchase Fraud (CNP)

Value = £399.6m (+11%) Cases = 2,586,217 (+22%)
This fraud occurs when a criminal use stolen card details to buy something on the internet,
over the phone or through mail order.

Remote Purchase (CNP) 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value £398.4m £432.3m £408.4m £506.4m £470.2m £452.6m £412.5m £395.7m £360.5m £399.6m 11%
Cases 1,113,084 1,437,832 1,398,153 2,050,275 2,157,418 2,417,866 2,425,099 2,221,026 2,127,201 2,586,217 22%

Notes:

• Loss total increased for the first time since 2018.

• 80 per cent of all CNP fraud is e-commerce, with 75 per cent of that occurring at a merchant
acquired outside of the UK.
• Case total highest ever recorded, driven by the increased sophistication of social
engineering techniques to acquire OTP’s from victims which are then used for one off
transactions or to register compromised card details for digital wallets.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 26

Card ID Theft
Value = £58.7m (-26%) Cases = 109,344 (-23%)
Card ID theft occurs when a criminal uses a fraudulently obtained card or card details, along
with stolen personal information, to open or take over a card account held in someone else’s
name.

This type of fraud is split into two categories: third-party application fraud and account
takeover fraud.

Third Party Application:

Value = £19.3m (-39%) Cases = 24,407 (+17%)
With third-party application fraud, a criminal will use stolen or fake documents to open a card
account in someone else’s name. This information will typically have been gathered through
data loss, such as via data hacks and social engineering to compromise personal data.

Account Takeover:
Value = £39.4m (-17%) Cases = 84,937 (-30%)
In an account takeover fraud, a criminal takes over another person’s genuine card account.

Card ID Theft 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value £38.2m £40.0m £29.8m £47.3m £37.7m £29.7m £26.3m £51.7m £79.1m £58.7m -26%
Cases 33,566 31,756 29,156 63,791 54,165 34,545 38,753 82,064 142,445 109,344 -23%

Notes:

• Total losses and cases volumes both fall after spike seen in 2023.
• Compromise of personal data continues to drive both types of Card ID theft.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 27

05
Further Card
Fraud Analysis
Note: Figures in the following sections relate to the places where the card was used
fraudulently, rather than how the card or the card details were compromised. This is simply
another way of breaking the overall card fraud totals and so these figures should not be
treated as an addition to those already covered in the earlier sections. Case volumes are not
available for the place of misuse, as it is feasible that one case could cover multiple places,
e.g., a lost or stolen card could be used to make an ATM withdrawal as well as to purchase
goods on the high street.

UK Retail Face to Face Card Fraud Losses

Value = £82.1m (-7%)
UK retail face-to-face card fraud covers all transactions that occur in person in a UK shop
including contactless. Much of this fraud is undertaken using low-tech techniques, with
fraudsters finding ways of stealing the card, and often the PIN, to carry out fraudulent
transactions in shops. This includes criminals using methods such as ATM card entrapment
and distraction thefts, combined with shoulder surfing and PIN pad cameras. Criminals also
use various social engineering methods to dupe victims into handing over their cards on their
own front doorstep, often known as courier scams.

This category includes fraud incidents involving the contactless functionality on both payment
cards and mobile devices.

UK FACE TO FACE 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value £53.5m £62.8m £61.9m £69.8m £64.3m £48.9m £48.3m £72.0m £88.7m £82.1m -7%

Notes:

• Contactless fraud totalled £41.1m in 2024; a decrease of one per cent on 2023; the first time
a reduction has been reported for this category since 2020.
• Contactless fraud on payment cards and devices represents only seven per cent of overall
card fraud losses, while 74 per cent of all card transactions were contactless last year.
• The fraud to turnover ratio for contactless fraud (1.3p) remains below that for unauthorised
card fraud overall (6.0p). Contactless cards, therefore, remain a convenient and secure
payment method for consumers.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 28

UK Internet / E-Commerce Card Fraud Losses

Value = £225.0m (+11%)
These figures cover fraud losses on card transactions made online and are included within the
overall remote purchase (card-not-present) fraud losses described in the previous section.

UK Internet/Ecommerce 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value N/A N/A N/A £254.4m £232.6m £242.8m £236.1m £220.5m £202.4m £225.0m 11%

Notes:

• First increase since 2020

• Data compromise, including through data hacks at third parties such as retailers, is a major
driver of these fraud losses, with criminals using the stolen card details to make purchases
online. The data stolen from a breach can be used for months or even years after the
incident. Criminals also use the publicity around data breaches as an opportunity to trick
people into revealing financial information.
• Historic data prior to 2018 is not available.

UK Cash Machine Fraud Losses

Value = £25.3m (-1%)
These figures cover fraudulent transactions made at cash machines in the UK, either using
a stolen card or where a card account has been taken over by the criminal. In all cases the
fraudster would need to have access to the genuine PIN and card. Most losses result from
distraction thefts which occur mainly in shops, bars and restaurants and at ATMs.

Fraudsters also target cash machines to compromise or steal cards or card details in three
main ways:

Entrapment devices: Inserted into the card slot in a cash machine, these devices prevent
the card from being returned to the cardholder. To capture the PIN, the criminal will use a
small camera attached to the machine and directed at the PIN pad, or they will watch it being
entered by the cardholder. Once the customer leaves the machine, the criminal removes the
device and the card and subsequently uses it to withdraw cash.

Skimming devices: These devices are attached to the cash machine to record the details
from the magnetic strip of a card, while a miniature camera captures the PIN being entered.
A fake magnetic stripe card is then produced and used with the genuine PIN to withdraw cash
at machines overseas which have yet to be upgraded to Chip and PIN.

Shoulder surfing: A technique used by criminals to obtain PINs by watching over the
cardholder’s shoulder when they are using an ATM or card machine. The criminal then steals
the card using distraction techniques or pickpocketing.

UK Cash Machine 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value £32.7m £43.1m £37.2m £32.6m £30.0m £28.1m £24.4m £26.1m £25.6m £25.3m -1%
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 29

Card Fraud Abroad

Value = £154.2m (+15%)
This category covers fraud occurring in locations overseas on UK-issued cards.

Card Fraud Abroad 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value £188.4m £200.1m £158.0m £174.8m £170.7m £159.7m £140.5m £140.1m £134.5m £154.2m 15%
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 30

06
Unauthorised
Cheque Fraud
Value = £8.1m (+44%) Cases = 1,106 (-8%)
There are three types of cheque fraud: counterfeit, forged and fraudulently altered.

Counterfeit cheque fraud –

Value = £1.0m (0%) Cases = 273 (-43%)
Counterfeit cheques are printed on non-bank paper to look exactly like genuine cheques and
are drawn by a fraudster on genuine accounts.

Fraudulently altered cheques –

Value = £5.7m (+83%) Cases = 582 (+13%)
A fraudulently altered cheque is a genuine cheque that has been made out by the customer
but has been changed by a criminal before it is paid in, for example by altering the
beneficiary’s name or the amount of the cheque.

Forged cheque fraud –

Value = £1.5m (-3%) Cases = 251 (+25%)
A forged cheque is a genuine cheque that has been stolen from an innocent customer and
used by a fraudster with a forged signature.

Cheque Fraud 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Prevented £392.8m £196.2m £212.3m £218.2m £550.8m £238.5m £33.1m £19.8m £12.3m £53.7m 336%
Value £18.9m £13.7m £9.8m £20.6m £53.6m £12.3m £6.4m £7.5m £5.6m £8.1m 44%
Cases 5,746 3,388 1,745 2,020 2,852 1,247 815 966 1,197 1,106 -8%

Notes:

• Cheque fraud accounts for only one per cent of all unauthorised fraud
• Prevented cheque fraud totalled £53.7m in 2024, meaning 87 per cent of all attempted
cheque fraud was prevented without a loss occurring.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 31

07
Unauthorised
Remote Banking Fraud
Value = £141.3m (-7%) Cases = 31,158 (-17%)
Remote banking fraud losses are organised into three categories: internet banking, telephone
banking and mobile banking. It occurs when a criminal gains access to an individual’s bank
account through one of the three remote banking channels and makes an unauthorised transfer
of money from the account.

Remote Banking Fraud 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Prevented £524.6m £205.4m £261.1m £317.7m £268.9m £393.8m £365.5m £174.1m £218.1m £247.6m 14%
Value £168.6m £137.0m £156.1m £152.9m £150.7m £197.3m £199.5m £163.1m £151.7m £141.3m -7%
Cases 33,306 33,392 34,746 31,797 43,920 73,640 88,450 47,473 37,412 31,158 -17%

Notes:
• In 2024, 88 per cent of the adult population used at least one form of remote banking
• The overall prevention rate for remote banking fraud was 64 per cent in 2024

Unauthorised Internet Banking Fraud

Value = £77.8m (-12%) Cases = 9,176 (-33%)
This type of fraud occurs when a fraudster gains access to a customer’s bank account through
internet banking using compromised personal details and passwords and makes an unauthorised
transfer of money.

Internet Banking Fraud 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value £133.5m £101.8m £121.2m £123.0m £111.8m £159.7m £158.3m £114.1m £88.7m £77.8m -12%
Cases 19,691 20,088 21,745 20,904 25,849 55,995 72,557 32,036 13,669 9,176 -33%

Notes:
• Lowest loss total reported since 2013.
• Lowest case volume total ever reported.
• Internet banking 51 per cent lower than the peak reported during Covid-19 lockdowns 2020 (£159.7m)
• £161.2m of internet banking was prevented in 2024, equivalent to £6.74 in every
£10 attempted being prevented without a loss occurring.
• A further £18.1m was recovered after the incident had occurred.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 32

Unauthorised Telephone Banking Fraud

Value = £16.7m (-5%) Cases = 3,733 (+1%)
This type of fraud occurs when a criminal uses compromised bank account details to gain
access to a customer’s telephone banking account and makes an unauthorised transfer of
money away from it

Telephone Banking Fraud 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value £32.3m £29.6m £28.4m £22.0m £23.6m £16.1m £15.5m £14.7m £17.6m £16.7m -5%
Cases 11,380 10,495 9,577 7,937 11,199 7,490 4,623 3,076 3,711 3,733 1%

Notes:

• Social engineering remains the main driver behind this type of fraud, criminals trick
customers into revealing their account security details, which are then used to impersonate
the genuine account holder.
• £31.6m of telephone banking fraud was prevented in 2024, equivalent to £6.54 in every £10
of attempted fraud being stopped without a loss occurring.
• A further £1.3m was recovered after the incident had occurred.

Unauthorised Mobile Banking Fraud

Value = £46.7m (+3%) Cases = 18,249 (-9%)
Mobile banking fraud occurs when a criminal use compromised bank account details to gain
access to a customer’s bank account through a banking app downloaded to a device only.
It excludes web browser banking on a mobile and browser-based banking apps (incidents on
those platforms are included in the internet banking fraud figures).

Mobile Banking Fraud 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Value £2.8m £5.7m £6.5m £7.9m £15.2m £21.6m £25.8m £34.2m £45.5m £46.7m 3%
Cases 2,235 2,809 3,424 2,956 6,872 10,155 11,270 12,361 20,032 18,249 -9%

Notes:

• Loss total highest ever reported.

• First decrease in cases volume since 2018.
• Rises are to be expected in the mobile banking channel as the level of usage increases
amongst customers. Around 60 per cent of adults living in the UK now use a mobile banking
app either on their telephone or tablet, up from 33 per cent in 2015, and this is likely to
continue rising as people become more familiar with and comfortable with mobile banking,
and the functionality offered through mobile banking improves and payment limits increase.
• £54.8m of mobile banking fraud was prevented in 2024, equivalent to £5.39 in every £10 of
attempted fraud being stopped without a loss occurring.
• A further £2.8m was recovered after the incident had occurred.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 33

08
Overall Authorised
Payment Fraud
Value = £450.7m (-2%) Cases = 185,733 (-20%)
Overall Authorised Payment Fraud 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change
Personal 145,207 188,964 200,643 224,692 179,115 -20%
Cases Non-Personal 9,407 7,032 6,729 7,735 6,618 -14%
Total 154,614 195,996 207,372 232,427 185,733 -20%
Personal 228,946 333,751 361,761 405,096 339,271 -16%
Payments Non-Personal 15,625 11,386 10,505 12,364 10,996 -11%
Total 244,571 345,137 372,266 417,460 350,267 -16%
Personal £347.4m £505.9m £408.2m £376.4m £365.7m -3%
Value Non-Personal £73.3m £77.4m £77.0m £83.3m £84.9m 2%
Total £420.7m £583.2m £485.2m £459.7m £450.7m -2%
Personal £148.9m £233.4m £254.1m £256.4m £236.7m -8%
Returned to victim Non-Personal £25.8m £24.3m £31.5m £30.8m £30.3m -2%
Total £174.7m £257.7m £285.6m £287.3m £267.1m -7%

Cases: The number of confirmed cases reported, one case equals one account not one
individual.

Payments: Total number of payments identified as fraudulent in relation to case reported

above.

Value: The total value of payments reported above.

Returned to Victim: The total amount returned to the victim either through a direct refund
from the victim bank or through recovery of funds from the beneficiary account
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 34

09
APP Voluntary Code
*The figures quoted below are included within the overall APP total in the previous section
and should therefore not be treated as an addition to the overall numbers.

The authorised push payment (APP) scams voluntary code was introduced on 28 May 2019,
following work between the industry, consumer groups and the regulator. It provided
protections for customers of signatory payment service providers (PSPs) and delivers a
significant commitment from all signatory firms to reimburse victims of authorised push
payment fraud in any scenario where the customer has met the standards expected of them
under the code.

Ten Payment Service Providers (PSPs), representing 19 consumer brands and over 90 per cent
of authorised push payments, have signed up to the code so far. A list of signatories can be
found on the Lending Standards Board website.

As of October 2024, voluntary code commitments have been superseded by mandatory

reimbursement regulations. This will, therefore, be the last year in which we publish separate
voluntary code data on cases, losses and repayments.

In 2024, 185,733 cases were assessed and closed with a total value of £450.7 million. Our
latest figures show that £267.1 million of losses were returned to victims under the APP
voluntary code, accounting for 59 per cent of losses in these cases.

Voluntary Code Data <£1k >£1k <£10k >£10k Total

Cases 121,922 24,188 4,948 151,058
Payments 169,531 72,849 45,688 288,068
Value £29.7m £73.1m £190.2m £293.0m
Returned to victim £23.6m £49.6m £115.6m £201.2m*

* This includes £12.4m of reimbursement for cases where a repatriation of funds has
occurred from the beneficiary account after the case has been reported and the funds are
subsequently returned to the victim. It is not possible to attribute the totals to specific scam
types. However, they are included to reflect the true value reimbursed to victims for those
cases which have been assessed using the code
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 35

10
Fraud Enabler Data
APP Fraud Enablers
Our annual reporting of fraud statistics draws information from banks and payment service
providers on identified and reported fraudulent activity. It concentrates on the prevalence
and nature of different fraud and scam types, as well as the losses incurred. This enables the
industry and stakeholders to monitor change over time, informing ongoing detection and
prevention strategies.

But the vast majority of fraudulent activity starts outside the banking sector. Key to tackling
and ultimately reducing losses and the impact on consumers is greater understanding on
where and how fraud and scams originate.

UK Finance also publishes data on the source of authorised push payment fraud based on
analysis of a subset of APP data which uses anonymised case data that includes insight on the
reported enablers of fraud events.

This shows that:

• 70 per cent of fraud cases are enabled by online sources. These cases tend to include
lower-value scams such as purchase fraud and therefore account for 29 per cent of total
losses.
• 16 per cent of fraud cases are enabled by telecommunications, these are usually higher
value cases such as impersonation scams and so account for 36 per cent of losses.

The analysis is based on information provided by victims of fraud and then reported by UK
Finance members. A further explanation of how the data is gathered and the methodology is
included below.

Fraud Enabler Data 2022 2023 2024

Volume Value Volume Value Volume Value
Online 78% 36% 76% 30% 70% 29%
Telecommunications 18% 45% 16% 43% 16% 36%
Email 2% 12% 1% 11% 1% 10%
Other 1% 3% 2% 5% 3% 7%
Unable to ascertain 1% 4% 5% 11% 10% 18%
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 36

The Data:

• The Best Practice Standards (BPS) system is a secure platform which allows its members –
which include, national and regional, domestic and international, physical and virtual, banks
and non-banks, as well as payment service providers – to share information relating to
fraud and ‘push payment’ scams.
• The BPS platform enables firms to create cases in real-time, quickly passing information to
other financial institutions that have received fraudulent money. This greatly increases the
chances of being able to freeze it and stop it ending up in a criminal’s hands.
• UK Finance has access to aggregate reporting from the BPS system, allowing it to assess
the volume and value of fraud and scams and the origination of the fraudulent activity,
as reported by the victim. Aggregate information is compiled only once members have
investigated the fraudulent activity and cases are closed. UK Finance does not have access
to individual case information and is therefore unable to make an assessment as to the
accuracy of the data included and no quality assurance checks are undertaken on the data
inputs. However, extensive testing, engagement with members during the development of
the system, and validation with other sources of fraud data allows the conclusion that the
extracted data are consistent with industry trends.
• The data presented provide a statement of the origination of fraud and scams during the
stated periods, noting that the victim will not, in every case, be aware of where the initial
compromise happened, and as such these figures cannot be considered definitive. Only
information relating to cases that have been closed are loaded to the BPS platform, so not
all incidents of scams will be included here. For more detail on these please refer to the UK
Finance Annual Fraud Report.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 37

11
Further Analysis of the
APP Scam Data
UK Finance collates enhanced data which provide further insight into APP scams.

This data covers:

• Eight scam types: malicious payee (purchase scam, investment scam, romance scam and
advance fee scam) and malicious redirection (invoice and mandate scam, CEO fraud,
impersonation: police/bank staff and impersonation: other).
• Six payment types: faster payment, CHAPS, BACS (payment), BACS (standing order),
intrabank (“on-us”) and international.
• Four payment channels: branch, internet banking, telephone banking and mobile banking.
The data in the following sections provide a breakdown of the overall APP scam data detailed
in the previous section and are not in addition to the total figures.

Included within each scam type is the data relating to the cases which have been assessed
using the APP voluntary code.

As with previous years our analysis includes the proportion of losses that are returned to
victims across each scam type, both in aggregate and by voluntary code participants.

In October 2024 the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) introduced new mandatory
reimbursement rules.

This means there were different reimbursement regimes in place throughout 2024.

UK Finance’s data covers a wider range of payments and account types than those covered by
the new rules from the PSR. Some of the main differences are summarised in the table below:

UK Finance reimbursement reporting In scope mandatory reimbursement

Payments made from personal, micro-businesses and
charity accounts
Payments from personal accounts and businesses of all
sizes
Payments authorised in the UK and received both in Only payments authorised in the UK and received in a
the UK and internationally UK account
Payments of any value Payments up to a value of £85,000 and claims must be
made within 13 months of the payment
Payment executed through faster payments, CHAPS, Payment executed through the UK faster payment
BACS and international payment schemes system and CHAPS* systems

*(CHAPS rules are operated by the Bank of England)

 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 38
Purchase Scam
Value = £87.1m (+1%) Cases = 131,447 (-16%)
In a purchase scam, the victim pays in advance for goods or services that are never received.
These scams usually involve the victim using an online platform such as an auction website or
social media.

Common scams include a criminal posing as the seller of a car or a technology product, such as a
phone or computer, which they advertise at a low price to attract buyers. Criminals also advertise
items such as fake holiday rentals and concert tickets. While many online platforms offer secure
payment options, the criminal will persuade their victim to pay via a bank transfer instead. When
the victim transfers the money, the seller disappears, and no goods or services arrive.

Purchase Scam 2020-2024

Purchase Scam 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change
Personal 80,214 97,382 114,417 152,837 128,183 -16%
Cases Non-Personal 4,078 2,351 2,753 3,679 3,264 -11%
Total 84,292 99,733 117,170 156,516 131,447 -16%
Personal 102,325 129,442 155,451 214,690 184,598 -14%
Payments Non-Personal 5,168 2,969 3,667 4,904 4,835 -1%
Total 107,493 132,411 159,118 219,594 189,433 -14%
Personal £44.7m £56.8m £59.6m £77.0m £76.4m -1%
Value Non-Personal £6.5m £7.4m £7.4m £8.9m £10.7m 20%
Total £51.1m £64.1m £67.0m £85.9m £87.1m 1%
Personal £13.0m £18.9m £35.3m £51.6m £54.5m 6%
Returned to victim Non-Personal £1.6m £2.0m £2.8m £4.2m £4.5m 7%
Total £14.6m £20.9m £38.1m £55.8m £59.0m 6%

Notes:

• Loss total highest ever recorded (£87.1m)

• 71 per cent of all APP scams reported in 2024 were purchase scams accounting for 19 per
cent of the value
• Reimbursement rate in 2024 was 68 per cent, up from 29 per cent in 2020.
• 85 per cent of purchase scams originated online

Purchase Scam – Voluntary code only

Only those cases assessed using the voluntary code by signatory PSPs All cases reported
below are also included in previous figures relating to all purchase scam cases reported and
should not be treated as an addition.

Purchase Scam VC Data <£1k >£1k <£10k >£10k Total

Cases 97,557 10,911 746 109,214
Payments 129,172 24,749 4,440 158,361
Value £20.3m £30.7m £16.2m £67.3m
Returned to victim £16.2m £20.0m £9.9m £46.2m

Notes:

• 69 per cent of all losses were returned to the victim in 2024 compared with 34 per cent in 2021
• 89 per cent of all cases assessed involved case values of less than £1,000
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 39

Investment Scam
Value = £144.4m (+34%) Cases = 7,767 (-24%)
In an investment scam, a criminal convinces their victim to move their money to a fictitious
fund or to pay for a fake investment. The criminal will usually promise a high return to entice
their victim into making the transfer. These scams include investment in items such as gold,
property, carbon credits, cryptocurrencies, land banks and wine.

The criminals behind investment scams often use cold calling to target their victim and
pressurise them to act quickly by claiming the opportunity is time limited. Adverts on social
media usually offering unrealistic returns, and letters are also used heavily in investment scams.

Investment Scam 2020-2024

Investment Scam 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change
Personal 7,900 11,905 9,941 10,060 7,566 -25%
Cases Non-Personal 281 169 144 166 201 21%
Total 8,181 12,074 10,085 10,226 7,767 -24%
Personal 19,322 35,071 30,065 32,780 28,619 -13%
Payments Non-Personal 601 594 446 616 759 23%
Total 19,923 35,665 30,511 33,396 29,378 -12%
Personal £103.6m £166.2m £109.3m £98.6m £126.4m 28%
Value Non-Personal £5.8m £5.5m £4.8m £9.3m £18.0m 95%
Total £109.4m £171.7m £114.1m £107.8m £144.4m 34%
Personal £39.0m £72.7m £56.9m £56.3m £68.3m 21%
Returned to victim Non-Personal £1.2m £2.0m £1.7m £2.7m £3.8m 40%
Total £40.2m £74.6m £58.6m £59.0m £72.1m 22%

Notes:

• Investment scam losses increase for first time since 2021

• Reimbursement rate in 2024 was 50 per cent, up from 34 per cent in 2020
• 53 per cent of investment scams originated online in 2023, 23 per cent via a
telecommunications service or platform

Investment Scam – Voluntary code only

Only those cases assessed using the voluntary code by signatory PSPs All cases reported
below are also included in previous figures relating to all purchase scam cases reported and
should not be treated as an addition.

Investment Scam VC Data <£1k >£1k <£10k >£10k Total

Cases 2,196 1,899 1,567 5,662
Payments 3,795 6,747 10,868 21,410
Value £0.8m £7.9m £81.1m £89.8m
Returned to victim £0.6m £4.9m £44.0m £49.4m

Notes:

• 55 per cent of all losses were returned to the victim in 2024 compared with 45 per cent in 2021
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 40

Romance Scam
Value = £30.5m (-17%) Cases = 4,087 (-2%)
In a romance scam, the victim is persuaded to make a payment to a person they have met,
often online through social media or dating websites and with whom they believe they are in a
relationship.

Fraudsters will use fake profiles to target their victims to start a relationship, which they
will try to develop over a longer period. Once they have established their victim’s trust, the
criminal will then claim to be experiencing a problem, such as an issue with a visa, health
issues or flight tickets and ask for money to help.

Romance Scam 2020 – 2024

Romance Scam 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change
Personal 2,252 3,245 3,617 4,134 4,054 -2%
Cases Non-Personal 73 25 32 26 33 27%
Total 2,325 3,270 3,649 4,160 4,087 -2%
Personal 12,778 25,723 30,119 39,395 44,467 13%
Payments Non-Personal 407 91 101 183 263 44%
Total 13,185 25,814 30,220 39,578 44,730 13%
Personal £17.3m £30.6m £30.9m £36.1m £29.7m -18%
Value Non-Personal £0.5m £0.3m £0.4m £0.4m £0.8m 93%
Total £17.8m £30.9m £31.3m £36.5m £30.5m -17%
Personal £6.5m £12.4m £16.3m £22.6m £19.1m -15%
Returned to victim Non-Personal £0.1m £0.2m £0.2m £0.3m £0.4m 46%
Total £6.6m £12.6m £16.4m £22.9m £19.5m -15%

Notes:

• Romance scams have an average of nearly 11 scam payments per case; the highest of
the eight scam types, highlighting evidence that the individual is often convinced to make
multiple, generally smaller, payments to the criminal over a longer period
• Reimbursement rate in 2024 was 64 per cent, up from 37 per cent in 2020
• 75 per cent of all romance scams originated online in 2024

Romance Scam – Voluntary code only

Only those cases assessed using the voluntary code by signatory PSPs. All cases reported
below are also included in previous figures relating to all romance scam cases reported and
should not be treated as an addition.

Romance Scam VC Data <£1k >£1k <£10k >£10k Total

Cases 1,755 1,138 462 3,355
Payments 6,286 16,306 17,230 39,822
Value £0.6m £4.0m £18.4m £22.9m
Returned to victim £0.5m £2.8m £11.5m £14.8m

Notes:

• 64 per cent of all losses were returned to the victim in 2024 compared with 44 per cent in 2021
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 41

Advance Fee Scam

Value = £32.4m (+4%) Cases = 14,749 (-38%)
In an advance fee scam, a criminal convinces their victim to pay a fee which they claim will
result in the release of a much larger payment or as a deposit for high-value goods and
holidays. These scams include claims from the criminals that the victim has won an overseas
lottery, that gold or jewellery is being held at customs or that an inheritance is due.

The fraudster tells the victims that a fee must be paid to release the funds or goods, however,
when the payment is made, the promised goods or money never materialise. These scams
often begin on social media or with an email, or a letter sent by the criminal to the victim.

Advance fee Scam 2020-2024

Advance Fee Scam 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change
Personal 13,316 19,950 26,871 23,526 14,415 -39%
Cases Non-Personal 517 545 458 323 334 3%
Total 13,833 20,495 27,329 23,849 14,749 -38%
Personal 22,434 36,166 50,463 50,223 34,205 -32%
Payments Non-Personal 798 804 768 737 793 8%
Total 23,232 36,970 51,231 50,960 34,998 -31%
Personal £21.2m £30.8m £30.7m £29.4m £29.5m 1%
Value Non-Personal £1.0m £1.4m £1.5m £2.0m £2.9m 49%
Total £22.2m £32.1m £32.2m £31.3m £32.4m 4%
Personal £7.4m £10.9m £17.2m £20.4m £18.5m -10%
Returned to victim Non-Personal £0.3m £0.9m £0.6m £0.8m £1.5m 87%
Total £7.7m £11.8m £17.8m £21.2m £20.0m -6%

Notes:

• Reimbursement rate in 2024 was 62 per cent, up from 34 per cent in 2020
• Deposits for high value goods remain a key driver behind this scam type
• 58 per cent of advance fee scams originated online in 2024

Advance fee Scam – Voluntary code only

Only those cases assessed using the voluntary code by signatory PSPs All cases reported
below are also included in previous figures relating to all advance fee scam cases reported
and should not be treated as an addition.

Advance Fee VC Data <£1k >£1k <£10k >£10k Total

Cases 9,356 2,077 452 11,885
Payments 15,440 7,265 5,725 28,430
Value £2.4m £6.3m £15.3m £24.1m
Returned to victim £1.9m £3.8m £8.5m £14.3m

Notes:

• 59 per cent of all losses were returned to the victim in 2024 compared with 34 per cent in 2021
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 42

Invoice & Mandate Scam

Value = £42.7m (-15%) Cases = 2,301 (-26%)
In an invoice or mandate scam, the victim attempts to pay an invoice to a legitimate payee,
but the criminal intervenes to convince the victim to redirect the payment to an account they
control. It includes criminals targeting consumers posing as conveyancing solicitors, builders,
and other tradespeople, or targeting businesses posing as a supplier, and claiming that the
bank account details have changed.

This type of fraud often involves the criminal either intercepting emails or compromising an
email account

Invoice & Mandate Scam 2020-2024

Invoice & Mandate Scam 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change
Personal 2,903 2,555 1,871 1,485 994 -33%
Cases Non-Personal 1,818 1,775 1,469 1,625 1,307 -20%
Total 4,721 4,330 3,340 3,110 2,301 -26%
Personal 3,904 3,676 2,836 2,176 1,427 -35%
Payments Non-Personal 2,416 2,491 2,129 2,233 1,883 -16%
Total 6,320 6,167 4,965 4,409 3,310 -25%
Personal £25.1m £19.9m £15.0m £15.3m £10.4m -32%
Value Non-Personal £43.6m £36.8m £34.5m £35.0m £32.3m -8%
Total £68.8m £56.7m £49.5m £50.3m £42.7m -15%
Personal £14.3m £11.8m £12.4m £12.4m £8.4m -32%
Returned to victim Non-Personal £15.4m £10.8m £14.0m £11.1m £12.5m 12%
Total £29.8m £22.5m £26.4m £23.5m £20.9m -11%

Notes:

• 76 per cent (£32.3m) of invoice & mandate scam losses occurred on a non-personal account
• This type of fraud often involves the criminal either intercepting emails or compromising an email
account, 81 per cent of all invoice & mandate scam cases reported in 2024 originated via an email
• Reimbursement rate in 2023 was 49 per cent, up from 43 per cent in 2020

Invoice & mandate Scam – Voluntary code only

Only those cases assessed using the voluntary code by signatory PSPs All cases reported
below are also included in previous figures relating to all invoice & mandate scam cases
reported and should not be treated as an addition.

Invoice & Mandate VC Data <£1k >£1k <£10k >£10k Total

Cases 388 549 239 1,176
Payments 447 767 504 1,718
Value £0.2m £1.9m £9.7m £11.8m
Returned to victim £0.1m £1.4m £7.0m £8.6m

Notes:

• 72 per cent of all losses were returned to the victim in 2024 compared with 61 per cent in 2021
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 43
CEO Scam
Value = £11.8m (+2%) Cases = 270 (-34%)
CEO fraud is where the scammer manages to impersonate the CEO or other high-ranking
official of the victim’s organisation to convince the victim to make an urgent payment to the
scammer’s account.

This type of fraud mostly affects businesses. To commit the fraud, the criminal will either
access the company’s email system or use spoofing software to email a member of the
finance team with what appears to be a genuine email from the CEO. The message commonly
requests a change to payment details or for a payment to be made urgently to a new account.

CEO Scam 2020-2024

CEO Scam 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change
Personal 82 65 50 29 29 0%
Cases Non-Personal 275 396 382 382 241 -37%
Total 357 461 432 411 270 -34%
Personal 127 99 80 36 98 172%
Payments Non-Personal 360 579 535 555 343 -38%
Total 487 678 615 591 441 -25%
Personal £0.9m £1.1m £0.6m £0.3m £0.7m 113%
Value Non-Personal £3.9m £11.6m £12.9m £11.2m £11.1m -1%
Total £4.8m £12.7m £13.4m £11.6m £11.8m 2%
Personal £0.5m £0.7m £0.3m £0.1m £0.3m 414%
Returned to victim Non-Personal £1.4m £2.1m £3.2m £3.0m £2.0m -34%
Total £1.8m £2.8m £3.6m £3.1m £2.3m -26%

Notes:
• CEO scam is the smallest of all eight scam types in both loss and case volumes; accounting for
only 2.6 per cent of the total loss and less than 0.2 per cent of overall case volumes
• 94 per cent of all CEO scam losses occurred on a non-personal account
• Average case value of £40,000+, the highest of all eight scam types
• Reimbursement rate in 2023 was 19 per cent, down from 38 per cent in 2020. CEO scam is the
only scam type to show a reduction in the reimbursement rate when compared with previous
years, given the low volumes and high values associated with this category, one large case can
have a significant impact on percentage changes and this is likely to be the case here

CEO Scam – Voluntary code only

Only those cases assessed using the voluntary code by signatory PSPs All cases reported
below are also included in previous figures relating to all CEO scam cases reported and should
not be treated as an addition.

CEO Scam VC Data <£1k >£1k <£10k >£10k Total

Cases 19 60 23 102
Payments 20 127 47 194
Value £0.01m £0.3m £0.9m £1.3m
Returned to victim £0.01m £0.2m £0.4m £0.6m

Notes:

• 49 per cent of all losses were returned to the victim in 2024 compared with 61 per cent in 2021
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 44
Impersonation: Police / Bank Staff
Value = £65.9m (-16%) Cases = 7,202 (-32%)
In this scam, the criminal contacts the victim purporting to be from either the police or the
victim’s bank and convinces the victim to make a payment to an account they control.

These scams often begin with a phone call or text message, with the fraudster claiming
there has been fraud on the victim’s account, and they need to transfer the money to a ‘safe
account’ to protect their funds. However, the criminal controls the recipient account. Criminals
may pose as the police and ask the individual to take part in an undercover operation to
investigate ‘fraudulent’ activity at a branch.

To commit this fraud, the criminal will often research their victim first, including using information
gathered from other scams and data breaches to make their approach sound genuine.

Impersonation: Police / Bank Staff 2020-2024

Impersonation Police / Bank 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change
Personal 20,199 28,629 16,413 10,088 6,885 -32%
Cases Non-Personal 978 777 535 506 317 -37%
Total 21,177 29,406 16,948 10,594 7,202 -32%
Personal 37,232 60,931 47,139 29,237 18,403 -37%
Payments Non-Personal 3,365 1,875 1,391 1,515 792 -48%
Total 40,597 62,806 48,530 30,752 19,195 -38%
Personal £84.3m £130.3m £100.7m £67.8m £61.0m -10%
Value Non-Personal £6.6m £7.0m £9.1m £11.1m £4.9m -56%
Total £90.9m £137.3m £109.8m £78.9m £65.9m -16%
Personal £48.3m £75.4m £76.0m £55.3m £43.5m -21%
Returned to victim Non-Personal £3.8m £3.9m £6.3m £6.1m £3.3m -47%
Total £52.1m £79.3m £82.3m £61.4m £46.8m -24%

Notes:
• Lowest loss total ever reported
• Lowest case volume total ever reported
• Reduction likely to be caused by extensive messaging to consumers being successful, items
such as advertising campaigns (e.g. TakeFive), as well as key messages and warning messages
during the payment journey effectively educating consumers on banks behaviours.
• Reimbursement rate in 2024 was 71 per cent, up from 57 per cent in 2020

Impersonation: Police / Bank – Voluntary code only

Only those cases assessed using the voluntary code by signatory PSPs All cases reported
below are also included in previous figures relating to all impersonation police/bank scam
cases reported and should not be treated as an addition.

Impersonation Police / Bank VC Data <£1k >£1k <£10k >£10k Total

Cases 2,037 2,541 1,165 5,743
Payments 3,558 7,543 4,823 15,924
Value £0.95m £9.6m £38.3m £48.9m
Returned to victim £0.81m £7.7m £28.0m £36.5m

Notes:

• 75 per cent of all losses were returned to the victim in 2024 compared with 60 per cent in 2020
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 45

Impersonation: Other
Value = £35.8m (-38%) Cases = 17,910 (-24%)
In this scam, criminals claim to represent an organisation such as a utility company,
communications service provider or government department. Common scams include claims
that the victim must settle a fictitious fine, pay overdue tax or return an erroneous refund.
Sometimes the criminal requests remote access to the victim’s computer as part of the scam,
claiming that they need to help ‘fix’ a problem.

As with police and bank staff impersonation scams, criminals will often research their targets
first, using information gathered from scams, social media, and data breaches.

Impersonation: Other 2020-2024

Impersonation Other 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change
Personal 18,341 25,233 27,463 22,534 16,989 -25%
Cases Non-Personal 1,387 994 956 1,028 921 -10%
Total 19,728 26,227 28,419 23,562 17,910 -24%
Personal 30,824 42,643 45,608 36,557 27,454 -25%
Payments Non-Personal 2,510 1,983 1,468 1,621 1,328 -18%
Total 33,334 44,626 47,076 38,178 28,782 -25%
Personal £24.0m £34.3m £39.6m £37.8m £24.1m -36%
Value Non-Personal £5.4m £7.4m £6.5m £5.4m £4.2m -22%
Total £55.8m £77.5m £67.8m £57.3m £35.8m -38%
Personal £24.0m £34.3m £39.6m £37.8m £24.1m -36%
Returned to victim Non-Personal £2.1m £2.5m £2.7m £2.6m £2.4m -6%
Total £26.1m £36.8m £42.3m £40.4m £26.6m -34%

Notes:

• Reimbursement rate in 2024 was 74 per cent; the highest of all eight scam types

Impersonation: Other – Voluntary code only

Only those cases assessed using the voluntary code by signatory PSPs All cases reported
below are also included in previous figures relating to all impersonation: other scam cases
reported and should not be treated as an addition.

Impersonation Other VC Data <£1k >£1k <£10k >£10k Total

Cases 8,613 5,013 294 13,920
Payments 10,812 9,345 2,051 22,208
Value £4.48m £12.2m £10.1m £26.8m
Returned to victim £3.53m £8.8m £6.1m £18.5m

Notes:

• 69 per cent of all losses were returned to the victim when assessed using the voluntary
code in 2024 compared with 45 per cent in 2021
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025

12
Payment Type
This data shows the type of payment method the victim used to make the payment in the
authorised push payment scam.

2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Payments 236,641 335,451 364,964 409,533 337,371 -18%
Faster Payment
Value £349.4m £504.5m £421.1m £380.2m £351.3m -8%
Payments 501 764 550 449 316 -30%
CHAPS
Value £14.5m £22.5m £13.9m £23.1m £15.9m -31%
Payments 1,193 1,695 2,227 2,530 2,126 -16%
BACs
Value £23.5m £20.4m £24.0m £27.9m £27.2m -2%
Intra bank Payments 3,113 3,358 1,242 1,645 4,471 172%
transfer Value £10.6m £7.5m £1.5m £2.6m £6.4m 148%
Payments 3,123 3,869 3,283 3,302 5,983 81%
International
Value £22.7m £28.3m £24.7m £25.9m £49.9m 93%
Payments 244,571 345,137 372,266 417,459 350,267 -16%
Total
Value £420.7m £583.2m £485.2m £459.7m £450.7m -2%

Notes:

• Faster Payments was used for 96 per cent of fraudulent APP scam payments
• CHAPS was the least common payment method, representing less than one per cent of cases,
the high-value nature of transactions using this payment type meant that it accounted for 3.5
per cent of the total value
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 47

13
Payment Channel
This data shows the channel through which the victim made the authorised push payment.

2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change

Payments 8,968 8,251 8,565 8,175 6,034 -26%
Branch
Value £43.6m £56.6m £45.7m £50.0m £40.2m -20%
Internet Payments 113,853 130,016 138,700 123,457 81,306 -34%
Banking Value £262.5m £329.1m £274.6m £224.9m £186.9m -17%
Telephone Payments 5,593 6,249 6,176 6,618 3,184 -52%
Banking Value £17.8m £24.4m £15.6m £18.9m £20.8m 10%
Mobile Payments 116,157 200,621 218,809 279,209 259,743 -7%
Banking Value £96.9m £173.2m £149.3m £165.9m £202.7m 22%
Payments 244,571 345,137 372,250 417,459 350,267 -16%
Total
Value £420.7m £583.2m £485.2m £459.7m £450.7m -2%

Notes:

• The most common payment channel was mobile banking which accounted for 74 per cent
of the payment volumes and 45 per cent of the loss, indicating the typically lower payment
limits available to customers within the mobile banking channel
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025

Contributing
Members
List of members who have contributed data to this publication

Allied Irish Bank Modulr

American Express Nationwide
Arbuthnot New Day
Bank of Ireland Royal Bank of Scotland Group
Barclays Bank Sainsburys Bank
C Hoare & Co Santander
Capital One Silicon Valley Bank
Citibank Starling Bank
Co-Operative Financial Services Tesco Bank
Coventry Building Society Triodos Bank
Danske Bank TSB
Hampden & Co Vanquis
HSBC Virgin Money
Investec Weatherbys Bank
Lloyds Banking Group Yorkshire Bank
Marks & Spencer Zopa Bank
Metro Bank
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 49

Our Fraud Data

UK Finance publishes both the value of fraud losses and the number of cases. The data is
reported to us by our members which include financial providers, credit, debit and charge
card issuers, and card payment acquirers. Each incident of fraud does not equal one person
being defrauded, but instead refers to the number of cards or accounts defrauded. For
example, if a fraud was carried out on two cards, but they both belonged to the same person,
this would represent two instances of fraud, not one.

All fraud loss figures, unless otherwise indicated, are reported as gross. This means the figures
represent the total value of fraud including any money subsequently recovered by a bank.

Some caveats are required for the tables in the document.

• Prevented values were not collected for all fraud types prior to 2015.
• The sum of components may not equal the total due to rounding. .
• Data series are subject to restatement, based on corrections or the receipt of additional
information.

Methodology for Data Collection

All of our data is collected directly from the firms we represent. We do not make any
estimations (unless indicated) and have agreed definitions / reporting templates in use to
ensure consistency across firms. All data submitted must pass three clear plausibility phases
(below) before publication

Validation check
Datasets containing totals, sub-totals, less-than or non-nil data field rules are automatically
checked by the system, highlighting erroneous data content. Such errors result in a ‘failed
submission’ which requires amendment.

Data plausibility - inputs

Arithmetically correct data for individual members is subject to rangecheck scrutiny against
previously submitted data (automated within spreadsheets or by manual assessment) at
a granular component level.. Further challenge is undertaken, if possible, by (explicit or
implicit) reference to alternative relevant data sources submitted by that member firm. Such
subjective challenges are raised to subject matter experts and resolved with data providers

Data plausibility – outputs

For high priority, public-facing data series, data management spreadsheets incorporate visible
warnings if a data observation is a series outlier or falls outside defined tolerance intervals.
 UK Finance Limited | Annual Fraud Report 2025 50

A typical process for one submission from one member would look similar to the below;

Collection Preparation Analysis Output

Submission made Validation Aggregation Publication

by member firm (accuracy)
using industry Trend analysis &
agreed template Plausibility commentary
& definitions challenge

Two-level review

Without evidence of the above, data will not be published.

This report is intended to provide information only and is not intended to provide
financial or other advice to any person. While all reasonable efforts have been made
to ensure the information contained above was correct at the time of publication,
no representation or undertaking is made as to the accuracy, completeness
or reliability of this report or the information or views contained in this report.
None of UK Finance or its employees or agents shall have any liability to any
person for decisions or actions taken based on the content of this document.
© 2025, UK Finance