Authorised push payment (APP) fraud fell by 20% during 2024 to reach its lowest level since 2020, according to recent data published by UK Finance.
Nearly 186,000 cases of APP fraud, where victims are manipulated into transferring money to a fraudster under false pretences, were recorded in 2024.
This decline follows four successive on-year increases in APP cases, with nearly 155,000 cases reported in 2020 and just over 232,000 cases in 2023.
A UK Finance spokesperson said: “We assess this was the result of a number of interventions, particularly the ongoing major investment in fraud protections by the banking and financial services industry.”
Common ways for fraudsters to trick victims include posing as a legitimate business or government authority, deceiving them into paying for goods or services which are never received, or even manipulating them via a romance scam, in which a person transfers money after being falsely led to believe they are in a relationship with a fictional person.
Losses to APP fraud declined by 2% year-on-year to just over £450 million, with the biggest percentage of losses attributed to investment fraud, where the victim is convinced to move their money into a fake fund or pay for an investment which doesn’t exist.
Of the above losses, UK Finance reported £267.1million was returned to victims following APP fraud in 2024, which represented around 59% of all the money stolen via APP fraud.
This was a 7% decline from returns in 2023, either through the recovery of funds from the beneficiary or a direct refund from the victim’s bank.
Eve was scammed out of £8,500 in July last year after she received a phone call from someone claiming to be from her bank.
The fraudster said someone was trying to withdraw money from her , in a specific location, and the fraudster knew many of her personal details, including her address.
She said: “I had spent a long time saving this money, I had recently lost my mum and was going through a really difficult time.
“I had just come back from a retreat to my mental health and it happened the day I got back.
“I was open emotionally and my boundaries weren’t as strong.”
“They said that I needed to move the money safely – they sent me a request and on the screen I pressed ‘ok’ because it was believable, and because they stayed on the phone for another 45 minutes after the transfer, reassuring me it was going to be refunded back.”
Unfortunately, Eve never received the promised refund.
A month later, the scammers called her again.
Eve recognised the voice on the other end of phone, and she said the scammer itted he regularly carried out schemes such as this and, because the banks now refund defrauded money, he will continue to do so.
Eve was eventually refunded just £2,000 by her bank as a goodwill gesture, as the scam occurred prior to regulations enacted in October 2024 which now mandate banks to reimburse victims of APP fraud.
The new rules, overseen by the Payment Systems Regulator, apply a reimbursement limit of £85,000, though banks can choose to exceed this amount and repay higher sums.
Before the rules were introduced, many banks were signed up to a voluntary code to reimburse defrauded customers.
A UK Finance spokesperson said: “Aside from reducing the financial detriment suffered by consumers, the new regulation has also sought to incentivise improved detection of financial crime.”
A freedom of information request revealed the UK Financial Conduct Authority has not issued any fines or taken any enforcement action to date against banks for failing to reimburse money to APP fraud victims.
In line with the UK Finance report, the FCA said it also saw a decline in the volume of complaints reported by UK-based retail banks relating to APP fraud in 2024, falling to around 21,000 from approximately 25,000 in 2023.
Take Five to Stop Fraud is a national campaign run by UK Finance to help people protect themselves against fraud and scams, working with financial institutions, law enforcement and other organisations.
Spokesperson Giles Mason said: “I think really anybody can be susceptible to fraud and scams.
“If you’re having a really busy day, you’ve got a lot on your mind, then those are the sorts of factors that could actually potentially make something a bit more susceptible in the moment than the other.
“The other thing is about the amount of information that people are willing to share about themselves, particularly online.
“So, obviously, we often live our lives online these days, through social media, and criminals can use that information that we make available about ourselves to target us all in fraud and scams.
“So if you’ve put on social media that it’s your birthday today, then a criminal knows a bit of information about you, they know your date of birth, and so they can use that when they you, to provide a bit of information about you, so you think that that approach is genuine.”
Mason’s advice for anyone who believes they may be on the phone with a scammer is take time to think.
He said: “Criminals often try to rush or panic you, so I think one of the key things is just always to take a moment.
“If you’re ever asked for your money or for your personal financial information, take a moment to stop and think: ‘Why am I being asked for this? Are they really who they say they are?’.
“If it’s a genuine organisation, they won’t mind you hanging up the phone, not replying, and then ing them on a number that you know to be true.”
Mason advises anyone who thinks they may have been scammed to their bank straight away to protect your , and then report it to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cyber-crime reporting centre.
Featured Image: rupixen on Unsplash
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