Financial scammers stole over £1.2bn from Britons in 2022

In 2022, more than £1.2 billion was fraudulently stolen in the UK. That is, every minute, criminals stole more than £2.3 thousand. At the same time, in 78% of cases, fraud was committed online and three-quarters of them started on social networks. Such data are provided in the annual report of the industry associations British banking industry UK Finance.

Commenting on the report, the head of UK Finance, David Postings, noted that “at the moment, the banking sector remains the only one that compensates for the funds stolen by fraudsters.” But given that the vast majority of these types of crimes start on social media, he says, “the burden should be shared evenly” by involving social media technology companies in the redress process, especially since these companies “profit” from fraud.

The association also believes that telephone operators should also bear more responsibility for the financial security of users. Phone scams are the second most common phone scam and accounted for 44% of funds stolen through them last year.

The association also notes that the total amount of funds stolen by criminals from lost or stolen bank cards increased by 30% over the year and for the first time exceeded £100 million. Such an increase was expected by experts, given that banks increased the amount during the pandemic. allowed contactless payments from £45 to £100. In addition, according to UK Finance, the British have become more likely to report the theft of funds: the number of applications increased by 23%, to 401 thousand.

Alena Miklashevskaya