UK Finance’s latest annual fraud report
UK Finance’s Annual Fraud Report revealed that £1.17bn was lost to fraud in 2024 – the fourth consecutive year of losses exceeding £1bn. While the total figure is similar to 2023, fraud patterns are shifting. Unauthorised fraud cases rose by 14% to over 3.13 million, driven by high-volume, low-value attacks that are harder to detect.
Authorised push payment (APP) fraud fell by 20%, thanks to improved detection tools and customer education. But this was offset by a 22% surge in card fraud – now the most common type of unauthorised fraud. As defences strengthen in one area, criminals quickly shift to weaker points, highlighting the need for a more adaptive response.
A broader, coordinated effort across banks, payment providers, telecoms and tech platforms is urgently needed. Financial institutions must move beyond piecemeal fixes and adopt a more strategic, joined-up approach to fraud prevention.
Three strategic priorities for fraud prevention
1. Build a holistic strategy
Many firms still take a reactive approach, focusing on short-term loss reduction rather than long-term resilience. Without a joined-up strategy across people, process and technology, fraud defences remain fragmented. Leading banks are already showing the benefits of integrated, multi-year strategies – but this is far from industry standard.
2. Align cyber, fraud and AML
Fraud, cybercrime and money laundering are increasingly interconnected. Mature banks are integrating teams, intelligence and systems – moving from coordination to full convergence. Fusion centres and frameworks like the Fraud Kill Chain are helping institutions spot threats earlier and respond faster, with measurable reductions in losses.
3. Orchestrate a unified risk view
Despite investment in analytics and biometrics, many firms still lack a complete view of customer behaviour. Orchestration layers unify data across channels – enabling real-time detection and better decisions. While some leading banks are refining these systems, many mid-tier firms are still building the basics.
Source: KPMG