UK online payment fraud overview:
- Who: Consumers in the UK lost £1.3 billion last year due to online payment fraud with authorised push payment fraud being a significant source of stolen funds.
- Why: Authorised push payment fraud is when a fraudster attempts to trick a consumer into making an online payment under false pretences to a bank account controlled by the scammer.
- Where: Consumers across the UK have fallen victim to online payment fraud.
UK consumers lost £1.3 billion last year due to online payment fraud with an increase in authorised push payment fraud playing a significant role in the 10-digit figure.
Authorised push payment fraud accounted for £583.2 million in consumer losses last year, an increase of 39% compared to 2020, according to research by UK Finance, The Guardian reports.
Push payment fraud occurs when a consumer is tricked into making an online payment under false pretences to a bank account under the control of a fraudulent individual.
There were nearly 196,000 incidents of authorised push payment fraud in the UK last year, according to the UK Finance research, with the increase in consumers working from home and spending more time online making fraud more likely to occur, The Guardian reports.
Almost 40% of all authorised push payment frauds last year involved impersonation scams, which is when a fraudster will trick an individual into sending them money by convincing them they are a trusted contact.
Fraudsters stole an estimated £214.8 million due to impersonation scams last year by posing as organisations such as the NHS, government departments and banks to try to get consumers to give up their personal and financial information, The Guardian reports.
Online payment fraud scammers contact consumers through texts, phone calls, social media posts, more
Fraudsters reportedly will contact consumers through texts, phone calls, fake websites, emails and social media posts when attempting to make contact with bank account holders.
The second largest category of authorised push payment fraud involved investment scams with £171.7 million lost last year, The Guardian reports.
Other types of authorised push payment scams included romance scams, purchase scams and CEO fraud, according to UK Finance.
Last September, a separate report released by UK Finance warned consumers that bank fraud perpetrated by online fraudsters had already led to £754 million in stolen funds in the first half of last year.
Have you been the victim of online payment fraud? Let us know in the comments!
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