Fraudsters impersonating genuine providers cost £177.6m in 2022, UK Finance data suggests
Scams have become harder to spot as warning signs like typographical mistakes or fake looking websites are becoming less common.
Sarah Taaffe-Maguire
Business reporter @taaffems
Tuesday 18 April 2023 03:11, UK
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Impersonation scams cost the UK £177.6m last year, according to new data from the trade body for the finance industry.
There were 45,367 cases in which scammers impersonated friends, family members, service providers such as banks, the police or delivery or utility companies, according to the data reported to UK Finance by its roughly 300 members.
Fraudsters commonly contact consumers via text, phone call and email in an attempt to access funds.
A separate survey of 2,000 people carried out online by the body found only half of people (51%) always check whether a request for money or personal information is legitimate.
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The age group most at risk are younger adults, the survey found. Only 38% of 18- to 34-year-olds said they always checked if a request was legitimate – the lowest percentage of any age group.
UK Finance warned scams have become harder to spot.
“Once obvious typos or fraudulent looking websites are no longer solely reflective of the tactics the criminals use,” a spokesperson said.
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The survey found that, out of all forms of communication, respondents were most likely to check if an email address was from a genuine organisation, with 67% saying they did this.
The second most common check people carried out was whether there were spelling and grammar mistakes (59%), with 57% checking if a website address was legitimate.
One in five (21%) of survey respondents who had replied to an organisation that had reached out to them said they later believed the communications had been fraudulent.
UK Finance publishes half yearly fraud data. Members of the body include the UK’s four biggest banks. It’s Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign encourages people to take a moment to stop and think before parting with their money or information.
