Representing 300 firms, UK Finance is a world class trade association representing the banking and finance industry operating in the UK. Each year, UK Finance publish an in-depth Annual Fraud Report. The report publishes both the value of fraud losses and the number of cases involved.

The data included is reported to UK Finance by their members which include financial providers, credit, debit and charge card issuers, and card payment acquirers. Each incident of fraud does not equal one person being defrauded, but instead refers to the number of cards or accounts defrauded. All fraud loss figures, unless otherwise indicated, are reported as gross. This means the figures represent the total value of fraud including any money subsequently recovered by a bank.

Authorised Push Payment scam types

This type of scam sees people tricked into sending a payment to someone who is not who they claim to be. Here we analyse eight common scam types and their impact in 2023:

(% figures in brackets represent change from 2022)

Purchase Scam

In a purchase scam, the victim pays in advance for goods or services that are never received. These scams usually involve the victim using an online platform such as an auction website or social media.

Value: £85.9m (+28%)
Cases: 156,516 (+34%)

Romance Scam

In a romance scam, the victim is persuaded to make a payment to a person they have met, often online through social media or dating websites and with whom they believe they are in a relationship.

Value: £36.5m (+17%)
Cases: 4,160 (+14%)

Investment Scam

In an investment scam, a criminal convinces their victim to move their money to a fictitious fund or to pay for a fake investment. The criminal will usually promise a high return to entice their victim into making the transfer.

Value: £107.8m (-5%)
Cases: 10,226 (+1%)

Advance Fee Scam

In an advance fee scam, a criminal convinces their victim to pay a fee which they claim will result in the release of a much larger payment or as a deposit for high-value goods and holidays.

Value: £31.3m (-3%)
Cases: 23,849 (-13%)

Invoice & Mandate Scam

In an invoice or mandate scam, the victim attempts to pay an invoice to a legitimate payee, but the criminal intervenes to convince the victim to redirect the payment to an account they control.

Value: £50.3m (+2%)
Cases: 3,110 (-7%)

CEO Scam

CEO fraud is where the scammer manages to impersonate the CEO or other high ranking official of the victim’s organisation to convince the victim to make an urgent payment to the scammer’s account.

Value: £11.6m (-14%)
Cases: 411 (-5%)

Impersonation: Police / Bank Staff

In this scam, the criminal contacts the victim purporting to be from either the police or the victim’s bank and convinces the victim to make a payment to an account they control.

Value: £78.9m (-28%)
Cases: 10,594 (-37%)

Impersonation: Other

In this scam, criminals claim to represent an organisation such as a utility company, communications service provider or government department. Common scams include claims that the victim must settle a fictitious fine, pay overdue tax or return an erroneous refund.

Value: £57.3m (-16%)
Cases: 23,563 (-17%)

Take a read of the full in-depth UK Finance Fraud Report here.