Is Fraud on the Rise?

The amount of money involved in fraud cases in the UK doubled to £2.3 billion last year. This was marked as the second largest period for scams in the last twenty years.

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Reported Cases:

The most recent FraudTrack report from BDO discovered that the number of reported instances rose by eighteen per cent, and the number of cases for over £50m rose by sixty per cent last year. Around half of the high-value scams were £200m and above.

BDO reported that elements driving the overall rise included the rising popularity of phishing, online scams and system breaches alongside APP- short for authorised push payment- transactions. This is when scammers manipulate people into giving them money via transfer.

Data shows that throughout the last ten years the number of reported cases has been rising and the amount of money involved getting larger. It is believed that it’s going to keep doing so. The unfortunate truth is that scammers will be finding ways to remain a step ahead by making use of new options such as AI.

Last year, Barclays warned that over seventy percent of frauds were being committed through social media.

Prominent Locations:

The most prominent hotspots for fraud are London and England – specifically the South East. Their yearly rise is at one hundred and seventy per cent in value. This is mainly a result of multiple high-profile instances. This is alongside a forty-three per cent rise in cases reported.

The region coming in second for the largest number of reported scams was the Midlands, taking a large leap from their previous spot as twelfth back in 2022.

It is common for fraud to be committed through identity theft, which can be a tricky problem to address. Learning about the Form ll restriction can help with issues like this. Companies like https://www.parachutelaw.co.uk/form-ll-land-registry-restriction may be able to assist in such cases.

Last year’s report discovered that the number of people taking part in “harmless” scams, such as not paying their council tax or attempting to retrieve money lost on gambling, had risen immensely throughout the current crisis of the cost of living.

To look further into this topic, take a look at this guardian article.

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BDO reported that the actual cost of scams was probably much higher than £2.3bn due to statistics for Wales and England showing that the police were informed of fewer than one in seven instances.