Scammers stole £11.4 billion from UK people in last 12 months
26 November 2024
The Global Anti-Scam Alliance’s (GASA) latest report, The State of Scams in the UK – conducted in association with UK’s leading fraud prevention service, Cifas – has revealed UK people lost £11.4 billion to scams in the last 12 months, up £4 billion on last year.
With Black Friday imminent and expected to trigger a spike in scam attempts this week, GASA and Cifas are urging consumers to remain vigilant.
The warning comes as 1 in 7 (15%) consumers surveyed said they lost cash to criminals in 2024 – up from 10% in 2023. The average loss per victim was £1,400, and only 18% recovered all their money.
However, there are promising signs that the ability of consumers to spot danger signs is improving. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of respondents said they could confidently recognise if an offer seemed too good to be true. Despite the increased awareness, 61% of people revealed they encounter scams at least once a month – in particular, through rogue delivery text/SMS messages, and shopping and investment scams via online platforms such as Gmail, WhatsApp, and Facebook.
In addition to the financial harm caused by a scam, 53% of victims felt a strong emotional response too. However, 71% of victims still did not report the crime – suggesting they may have been ashamed to do so, blamed themselves, or lacked the confidence that their complaint would be dealt with. In total, 3 in 5 respondents (60%), said their trust online had declined because of scams.
Prof. Jorij Abraham, Managing Director of GASA, said: ‘Losing £11.4 billion 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.’
In May 2024, Cifas, launched its Fraud Pledges – a set of five proposals challenging the Government, law enforcement and regulators, social media and Big Tech to do more to make tackling fraud and scams a national priority.
However, The State of Scams in the UK report revealed nearly a third (32%) of respondents rated the Government’s efforts to deal with scammers as ‘very poor’.
Mike Haley, CEO of Cifas, 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.’
Download The State of Scams in the UK report here.
ENDS
Notes to editors
Demographic information
The study involved 2,000 British citizens across all age groups over 18-years-old and many different backgrounds. Slightly more women (55%) responded than men (45%), with the average participant aged between 35 and 44 with a vocational education.
Study authors
Prof. Jorij Abraham, Managing Director, GASA; Luka Koning, Researcher & PhD Candidate, University of Twente; Sam Rogers, Marketing Director, GASA; Clement Njoki, Editor & Researcher, GASA.
Methodology
GASA used Pollfish.com to set-up the consumer survey and source participants. Pollfish utilises a survey methodology called Random Device Engagement. RDE is the natural successor to Random Digit Dialing (RDD). Our survey was delivered via Pollfish inside popular mobile apps, RDE utilises the same neutral environment as RDD, and an audience who are not taking premeditated surveys, by reaching them inside mobile apps they were using anyway. Pollfish uses non-monetary incentives like an extra life in a game or access to premium content. With additional layers of survey fraud prevention including AI and machine learning, Pollfish removes potentially biased responses, improving data quality even further.
The survey itself has been party Inspired by DeLiema, M., Mottola, G. R., & Deevy, M. (2017). Findings from a pilot study to measure financial fraud in the United States. Available at SSRN 2914560.
About GASA
GASA’s driving mission is to shield consumers globally from the financial and emotional trauma of scams. With many cybercriminals operating freely in the digital space, GASA invites governments, law enforcement, consumer protection, financial authorities & providers, brand protection agencies, social media, ISPs, and cybersecurity companies to share knowledge and define joint actions. These connections culminate in the annual Global State of Scams report, which follows the release of detailed reports that delve into the scam impact on individual countries each year.
For more information, or to arrange an interview with GASA Managing Director, Prof. Jorij Abraham, please contact Sam Rogers, GASA Marketing Director at +31 (0) 645 130 670 or sam.rogers@gasa.org.
About Cifas
Cifas is the largest not-for-profit fraud prevention service in the UK. It has more than 750 members who represent various industries including banking, retail, insurance, and telecoms. Cifas protects businesses and individuals from fraud through effective and secure data and intelligence sharing between the private, public and third sectors. Additionally, the independent organisation offers a range of products and services to help businesses prevent fraud and delivers specialist counter-fraud training through its Cifas Fraud and Cyber Academy and Digital Learning programme.
Cifas’ data is included in the Office of National Statistics England and Wales Crime Statistics of police recorded crime and it works alongside law enforcement agencies in tackling fraud. In 2023, Cifas members prevented more than £1.8bn of fraud losses. Website | LinkedIn | X
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