A total of £2 out of every £3 was stopped in attempted fraud last year.

Writing in the Financial Ombudsman’s latest newsletter, UK Finance managing director of economic crime Katy Worobec said there is more work to be done however, as unauthorised financial fraud totalled almost £732m.

Authorised push payment scams show an additional £236m was stolen that way in 2017.

“Banks and building societies take the threat of fraud extremely serious and invest millions in advanced fraud prevention systems to protect customers, but more needs to be done,” she said.

“Banks will always make every effort to help a customer recover any stolen funds and the industry has introduced new standards on how banks respond to scam victims.

“At the same time our Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign is giving people the knowledge they need to stay safe and we are working with the Joint Fraud Taskforce to deter and disrupt the criminals responsible for these scams.”

Share Story: