New research from Featurespace has showed that 30% of adults in the UK have been a victim of financial fraud while 55% have seen an increase in scam attempts in the last 12 months. As fraud rates continue to rise, nearly all adults in the UK (94%) now say they are taking additional steps to avoid falling victim to scams.

Almost GBP 1.2 billion was lost to fraud in the UK in 2023, with APP fraud a significant contributor to this. UK Finance’s 2024 Fraud report shows a 12% jump in the number of APP cases in 2023, with total losses amounting to GBP 459.7 million. Moreover, the research reveals evidence of social stigma around financial fraud. Despite the scale of the issue, victims aren’t speaking openly about it - only a fifth (20%) of people who have been a victim of a scam say they go on to speak to their friends and family about how they can protect themselves in similar situations, and one in seven (13%) decided not to report the scam because they felt embarrassed or ashamed. Banks recognise their responsibility in helping customers recover funds lost to scams, understanding the financial and emotional toll on victims.

A significant majority, 68%, of scam victims report being satisfied with the support their bank provided. With scams growing increasingly sophisticated, nearly 57% of people value the extra information banks offer on how to protect against financial fraud and scams. This guidance can be enhanced through the banks' use of advanced technology, which provides better insights and more refined risk assessments. Featurespace recently reported the results of a pilot program conducted with Pay.UK aimed at protecting consumers from APP fraud. The pilot showed positive results, with participants detecting an average of over GBP 112 million in additional fraud over a year.

Featurespace detected GBP 138.7 million, indicating that significant improvements in fraud detection are achievable on a national scale through a collaborative approach. Featurespace has built a model optimised for real-time data analytics, capable of recalibrating in real-time to identify and prevent both existing and new forms of fraud. About Featurespace With a mission to make the world a safer place to transact, Featurespace helps banks and financial institutions protect customers, and reduce risk and business operating costs by providing machine learning, fraud and financial crime prevention solutions via its ARIC™ Risk Hub. Over 70 direct customers and 200,000 institutions work with Featurespace’s technology including HSBC, NatWest, TSYS, Worldpay, Marqeta, Contis, Danske Bank, Akbank, Edenred and Permanent TSB. .