Research, Survey and Statistics

Retail fraud in the UK rocketed 545% year-on-year in the first six months of 2024, costing UK retailers £5.4 million, according to new data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB).

High on the list of recorded thefts are consumers returning stolen items to swap for legitimate ones or switching a price tag before paying, according to payments specialist Dojo.

Despite more businesses introducing paid returns, there have been over 1,300 reports of retail fraud so far this year, with May witnessing the highest number of reports of retail fraud with 285 cases followed by March (252).

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the amount of fraud committed in the UK more than doubled to £2.3bn in 2023, marking the second-biggest year for scams in the last two decades

The number of reported cases rose by 18 per cent to a three-year high, while the number of high-value cases over £50m increased by 60 per cent year-on-year in 2023.

Fraud accounts for 40 per cent of all reported crimes, new data has revealed, as Britons report that they are seeing an increase in scam activity.

Nearly £1.2billion was lost to fraud last year, according to figures from the National Crime Agency, with 3.5 million fraud offences having been committed in the year to March 2023.

In 2023, a huge £2.3billion was lost to fraud in the UK, with reported cases rising by 18%.

But which types of fraud are rising the most quickly? And what steps can be taken to avoid falling victim?

The experts at Scams.info have studied the number of reports across a five year period to determine which fraud types are most on the rise, and which types are becoming less common.

The annual research by the trade body found the number of scam cases dropped last year. But more than £1bn was stolen by criminals.

Fraudsters were less successful with their scam activity in 2023 but still managed to steal £3.2m a day, new figures from UK Finance have suggested.

https://moneyweek.com/personal-finance/uk-finance-scam-report-fraud-banks-criminals

People contacting a financial scams helpline over the past year have typically lost more than £16,000, according to a Government-backed body. The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) said that, between April 2023 and March 2024, the 833 people who contacted a dedicated helpline lost a total of £13.6 million.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/16-000-warning-issued-everyone-132933188.html

Financial organisations reported a case of fraud to the national database every two minutes, data reveals.

Despite the startling regularity, the number of cases fell by 9% in 2023 compared to the year before, dropping to 374,160 cases. It also remains the largest reported crime to the police, with 40% of all crimes being fraud.

The level of fraud in the UK jumped 30% to almost £1bn in 2005, according to the latest Fraudtrack report from accountants BDO Stoy Hayward.

Pure greed was the primary motivation in two-thirds of cases, closely followed by the need to gamble or pay off debts. And the most popular ways of committing fraud are conning the tax man and awarding business contracts to family or friends.

More than £612mn was lost to investment fraud in the UK past year, the City of London Police has revealed.

Data from Action Fraud reported £612,208,663 in losses in the past year with people aged 55 and over more likely to be targeted by investment fraudsters.

https://www.ftadviser.com/investments/2024/04/09/more-than-612mn-lost-through-investment-fraud-in-past-year/

Police in Staffordshire and the West Midlands have received more than 21,000 reports of fraud over the past 13 months.

New research has revealed that West Midlands Police received 15,829 individual reports, while Staffordshire Police received 5,680.

The analysis, carried out by QR Code Generator QRFY, looked at data from Action Fraud and the Office for National Statistics to uncover how many reports each police force had in England and Wales, and the most common type of fraud.