The amount fraudsters stole is a rise of £4bn from last year and equivalent to an estimated 0.4% of the UK’s GDP, according to State of Scams in the UK 2024.
One in seven of the 2,000 UK adults by Cifas and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) lost cash to con artists in 2024, an increase of 5% on the previous year.
Around two-thirds (61%) of UK residents encountered a scam at least once per month, with a fifth having to deal with a scammer several days per week.
When it came to recovering the full amount lost to fraudsters, just 18% managed to retrieve the full amount – a drop of 15% in 2023. A quarter didn’t try to claim the money back and around four in 10 did but received nothing from their bank.
Following new rules introduced in October, banks must now refund victims of authorised push payment (APP) scams within five days, up to a limit of £85,000.
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This aims to protect customers who have been tricked into sending money to fraudsters.
In 2024, a third of scam victims were unsure who to report the crime to, while over a quarter thought informing the police about the crime wouldn’t make a difference.
Meanwhile, social media platforms and Facebook in particular remained a hotbed for scammers to operate, with a 12% rise in incidents from the year before.
This is despite tech giants signing a pledge called the Online Fraud Charter last year to crack down on scams on their platforms.
Text and SMS message scams also rose by almost a tenth (8%) compared to last year. But the majority of scams (nearly 70%) were through email, most commonly with a phishing attack, which attempts to garner personal information through fake websites.
Average loss of £1,400 per person
Almost half of all scams are completed within the opening 24 hours of the first contact. This is why, in the previous Government’s Stop! Think Fraud campaign, recipients of offers seemingly too good to be true were urged to take their time before reacting.
A quarter of those who lost money to scammers, which averaged £1,400 per person, did so as they believed the offer was too attractive to turn down.
Elsewhere investment scams rose by 5% to 12.5%, while shopping scams remained the most common, representing almost a fifth of all scams respondents to the report received.
Once scam victims or recipients of scam attempts realised they’d been targeted, 71% chose not to notify law enforcement or any Government authority like councils or Action Fraud. The survey noted this can be due to feeling embarrassed or – incorrectly – to blame for what happened.
This year has seen a range of high-profile scams including the Taylor Swift Eras Tour and the men’s European Championship stealing millions of pounds from hopeful spectators.
Earlier this year, Mike Haley, CEO of Cifas, told YourMoney.com the “tide is turning on fraudsters”. So, nine months on, is that still the case?
‘Stark reminder as to scale and breadth of scams’
Following the latest data, he said: “These figures are a stark reminder as to the scale and breadth of scams impacting UK consumers. Not only do victims suffer financially, but they often – wrongly – feel shame and blame themselves.
“There has never been a greater need to protect people and shift the dial on the UK’s scams emergency.
“However, industry cannot do this alone. We need greater cross-sector collaboration and an ability to share data and intelligence from all industry sectors as well as Government departments, law enforcement, and the public sector.”
In the survey, a third (32%) of respondents believed the Government’s attempts to halt scammers were ‘very poor’.
Professor Jorij Abraham, managing director of GASA, called for more support to thwart scammers.
Abraham said: “Losing £11.4bn to scams in 12 months is absolutely staggering. It demands stronger action and an unwavering commitment to bringing criminals to justice.
“The UK’s counter-fraud community needs more support if they are to intensify the fight against scammers, restore confidence, and protect people from this growing threat.”
