UK Residents Lose £4billion to Fraudsters in 2022 Alone; Reveals money.co.uk

A total of £4billion was lost to fraudsters in the UK in 2022; revealed money.co.uk in its latest fraud report.

The Fraud and Cyber ​​Crime Report 2022 by money.co.uk analyzed police figures for the whole of 2022 to gauge levels of fraud throughout the year. The reported loss of £4billion represents a 67 percent increase when compared to fraud figures from 2021 (which totaled £2.4billion).

The money.co.uk report found 350,547 separate fraud and cybercrime cases; causing an average loss of £11,411 per victim.

How did the number of crimes progress in 2022?

Q1 & Q2

Between January 2022 and March 2022, 90,490 crimes were reported; resulting in £610.3 million of total losses.

2022s second quarter actually saw a slight reduction in the number of reported crimes: 88,199. However, despite 2,291 fewer reports compared to Q1, losses reached a total of £1.1 billion. This number represents an increase of £490 million quarter to quarter.

Q3 & Q4

In the third quarter of 2022, the number of cases dropped again, but total losses rose significantly once again. Overall, the 87,048 recorded cases of fraud and cybercrime in the UK totaled £1.6billion, a vast average of just over £18,000 a case.

The final quarter of 2022 saw a slight improvement from Q3. However, while it saw the lowest number of cases (over 3,000 less than Q3), over £917 million worth of losses were still seen.

What were the most common types of fraud in 2022?

In Q4, the biggest losses were attributed to banking and investment fraud, costing £289.3 million and £251.1 million respectively. While investment fraud losses peaked in Q4, banking fraud caused losses amounting to £520.1 million in Q3.

Although the two types of fraud led the way regarding losses caused, consumer fraud significantly led the way regarding prevalence. In every quarter, there were over 30,000 reported cases of consumer fraud. To compare this to banking fraud, consumer fraud had over 22,000 more reported cases.

Which demographics are the most targeted?

While many would expect the oldest to be the most targeted for cybercrime and fraud, those aged 30 to 39 were actually the worst off in Q4 of 2022.

In 2021, those aged 20 to 29 were actually targeted the most for crimes of this category. For individuals younger than 60, the most effective types of fraud were related to online shopping and auctions.

Those part of older age groups were most commonly exposed to computer software, advance fee and door-to-door sales fraud.

James Andrews, senior personal finance expert at money.co.uk, discussed the report’s findings on fraud and cybercrime. Andrews said: “Cyber ​​crimes cost Brits more than £4billion last year, with losses rising yet again. This is a reminder for us to protect our data online and be more vigilant when making purchases online.

“Using a credit card to pay for purchases gives you extra protection when shopping online. If you pay for even part of an item costing between £100 and £30,000 using your credit card, then you get extra protection from your card provider under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

“This allows you to claim a refund from your credit card provider if the selling merchant cannot be contacted or denies any wrongdoing. Making sure you have up-to-date antivirus software on your computer, phone and tablet can also help protect yourself from cyber-attacks.

“Finally, as a rule of thumb, banks and other official bodies will never request details such as credit card numbers or other personal information over the phone or email. If you do find yourself in a position where you have unexpectedly lost money, it is important that your bank is made aware of this as soon as possible.”