Criminals stole nearly £1.28 billion through payment fraud in 2025, according to the latest annual figures from UK Finance, marking a 4% rise from the previous year. The data underscores how fraud has evolved into a large-scale operation that endangers individuals, companies, and the broader economy while often financing organized crime both domestically and internationally.
The banking industry has made significant investments in customer safeguards, yet these efforts alone are insufficient to address the root causes.
Fraudsters are exploiting digital channels more effectively than ever, shifting focus toward schemes that trick victims into voluntarily transferring funds.
UK Finance is urging authorities to impose stricter, mandatory obligations on technology platforms and telecommunications providers to help curb this growing problem, in line with the government’s broader strategy against economic crime.
Key recommendations include stronger measures from Ofcom to combat misleading advertisements on high-risk social media sites, which frequently fuel investment scams.
Online marketplaces should also be required to properly verify sellers and enforce secure in-platform payments instead of permitting off-site bank transfers, a common starting point for purchase-related deceptions.
Additionally, firms in these sectors should contribute financially and share intelligence and technical resources to support prevention initiatives.
Losses from unauthorized transactions fell by 5% to £703.4 million in 2025, even as the number of incidents climbed 11% to 3.81 million.
Perpetrators are increasingly using advanced social engineering methods, such as intercepting one-time passcodes to set up digital wallets or complete illicit transfers.
Remote card-not-present purchases, where stolen details are used for online shopping, rose 3% to £423.5 million with cases increasing 13% to 3.2 million.
Losses from lost or stolen cards dipped slightly to £109.8 million, while remote banking fraud dropped sharply by 27% to £104.4 million despite an 11% rise in incidents, partly due to more mobile banking attempts.
Contactless fraud grew 8% to £46.8 million. Overall, the sector successfully blocked £1.68 billion in potential unauthorized theft.
APP fraud, where victims are manipulated into approving payments, surged 19% to £576.4 million with 248,070 cases recorded, up 7%.
Personal victims accounted for £500.8 million of the total, compared to £75.6 million for businesses.
These scams often involve fake opportunities for goods, services, or investments that never materialize.
Purchase scams made up 71% of cases, with losses climbing 20% to £118.1 million.
Investment fraud caused the largest financial damage at £221.5 million (up 40%), affecting more victims.
Romance scams also increased, with losses rising 23% to £39.2 million. In contrast, impersonation scams—where fraudsters pretend to be banks or officials—continued to decline.
Most APP incidents (66%) originate on online platforms, though telecommunications channels (17%) tend to involve higher-value losses. Email and other methods play smaller roles.
Banks reimbursed £354.3 million to APP fraud victims in 2025, covering about 61% of losses.
While reimbursement helps affected individuals, it does not prevent funds from reaching criminal networks.
Unauthorized fraud victims generally receive near-full refunds under legal protections.
Industry professionals now generally emphasize the need for real-time detection of social engineering, better disruption of money mule accounts, enhanced data sharing, and cross-sector collaboration.
Advances in AI by criminals demand equally sophisticated, proactive responses from banks, tech firms, and law enforcement.
To stay protected, UK consumers should thoughtfully pause before sending money or sharing details, question unsolicited requests, and contact their bank or report to Action Fraud immediately if they suspect a scam. The update from UK Finance has concluded that the nation’s financial sector continues to advocate for a more unified approach in order to effectively reduce harm and limit criminals’ profits.