Jonathan Frost, Director of Global Advisory for EMEA at BioCatch, has noted that the UK Finance half-year report indicates that although the industry appears to be pushing back, bad actors seem to be pushing even harder and, for now, gaining momentum. Frost added that during H1 2025, every minute, there were around £2,300 of confirmed losses attributed to fraud, and £5,590 in attempted fraud prevented. During this period eight people were had been victimised.
Johnathan Frost of BioCatch pointed out that despite new reimbursement rules and public awareness drives like “Stop! Think Fraud”, the data reveals that criminals kept going after weaker controls in the digital ecosystems of tech firms, with the majority of APP scams said to be originating via online sources.
Frost added that the PSR’s mandatory reimbursement requirements have now surely strengthened consumer protection, “returning millions to victims and creating an incentive for banks to set up and invest in better fraud and financial crime detection.”
But they also mentioned that the policy has struggled effectively to curb the underlying crime, with APP fraud surging. Preventing scams well before the transaction occurs needs be the goal. Frost further noted that this requires deploying enhanced fraud detection measures as well as behavioural tech to cut down on APP losses, taking down mule accounts that tend to enable such fraud, and engaging in “meaningful cross-sector collaboration between regulators, banks and tech firms.”
Frost also stated that the forthcoming independent review of the reimbursement limit will indicate how the United Kingdom plans “to balance consumer protection, fraud prevention, and enforcing accountability.”
They think there should now be more “emphasis on a more proactive, intelligence-led approach will be crucial in disrupting the scam economy at its source.”
Frost believes that the increase in fraud is about “human vulnerability.”
They explained that APP scams work because they “turn customers into unwitting accomplices, and awareness campaigns alone can’t solve that.”
They also stated that fraudsters are now using mobile and “remote channels to bypass authentication and pressure victims in real time.”
Frost further noted that the financial industry has made strides, “cutting criminal profits dramatically, but the same can’t be said for tech platforms.”
With provisions of the Online Safety Act delayed, criminals now “have a clear runway to keep exploiting the system.”
Frost also shared:
“The drop in unauthorised fraud losses is encouraging and provides room for cautious optimism. The fact that Payment Service Providers have blocked a massive £870 million in attempted fraud, equivalent to stopping 70 pence of every £1 targeted, is proof that investment in prevention is paying off.”
He continued:
“Criminals are collaborating, and the banking industry needs to do the same. Fraud moves across institutions and channels, but defences still operate in silos. The solution is already proven.”
He added that network-level collaboration, as we’ve seen in Australia, can potentially improve scam detection “without adding friction for customers.”
Frost concluded that the UK finance sector must now work to implement solutions that “improve the detection of social engineering, mule activity, and the abuse of faster payments.”
