Fraud losses to impersonation scams in the UK reached a total £177.6m in 2022, new figures published by UK Finance have shown.

The banking body urged consumers to beware of impersonation scams after 45,367 cases of this type of fraud last year.

Impersonation scams take place when an individual is contacted by a criminal pretending to be a trusted organisation such as a bank, the police, a delivery or utility company, or even a friend or family member. The scams can be sophisticated and often start with a call, text, email or direct message with an urgent request for money or personal and financial information.

Research from UK Finance’s Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign found that only 51% of people always check if a request for money or personal information is legitimate before responding.

However, this research also found that of those that had been approached, one in five (21%) of people who had responded to communications from a range of organisations said that they later believed to be fraudulent.

The Take Five campaign research also indicated that younger adults are particularly at risk. Just 38% of those aged between 18 and 34 always check a request for their money or information is genuine – the lowest of any age group. This cohort was also the most likely, at 39%, to believe they had been contacted by a criminal after they had responded to an initial request for information from what they thought was a legitimate organisation.

Managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, Katy Worobec, commented: “We receive genuine communication from trusted organisations on a daily basis, meaning it’s not always easy for us to spot when an approach for information is in fact from a criminal.

“Anyone can be caught out by a scam in the heat of the moment and criminals are constantly adapting their tactics to appear legitimate. It has never been more important to take steps to check for genuine communication and follow the advice of the Take Five campaign.”

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