The report, based on extensive internal research and data analysis, aims to shed light on the growing scam and fraud industry globally and provide tangible watch-outs to help people protect themselves. Revolut plans to revisit this data on an ongoing basis to track the fraud landscape.

Setting the scene: the global fraud landscape

Revolut’s report divulges the growing threat of scams, which robbed global citizens of over USD $1 trillion in 2022, according to GASA (Global Anti-Scam Alliance & ScamAdviser, Global State of Scams report). Revolut data shows this phenomenon continued to surge last year, with the fraud landscape undergoing significant changes, marked by the strengthening of fraudulent techniques aimed at extracting sensitive account details and personal information for financial gain. Financial criminals have intensified their efforts, employing sophisticated tactics such as deceptive websites, elongated payment chains, and social engineering attacks to ensnare victims.

To combat these threats, Revolut remained proactive in staying ahead of the dynamic fraud landscape in 2023. It implemented enhanced security features, including biometric authentication and proactive payment flow warnings, while also prioritising scam education initiatives through its in-app Learn program to empower customers with the necessary knowledge and tools to protect themselves against malicious actors.

Last year Revolut’s proprietary fraud detection system, powered by cutting-edge machine learning and artificial intelligence, prevented over £475 million in fraud against customers.

Unauthorised Fraud vs. Authorised Fraud

The report distinguishes between Unauthorised Fraud, characterised by criminals hacking into an account against the victims permission, and Authorised Fraud (i.e. ‘scams’), deceptive practices that convince a victim to enable a payment to be made.

According to the report, social engineering continues to be a significant driver for both types of fraud but it has a stronger impact when it is used to perform Authorised Fraud. Indeed, although 62% of Revolut victims in 2023 were defrauded by Unauthorised Fraud, the average loss per victim was GBP 110, against an average of GBP 1,400 per person lost per authorised fraud.

Woody Malouf, Head of Financial Crime at Revolut, said: “Protecting our customers from the growing threat of scams globally is paramount to us at Revolut. Our first-ever Financial Crime and Consumer Security Report not only sheds light on the evolving landscape of fraud but also equips individuals with the knowledge they need to stay vigilant. With our advanced fraud detection systems and commitment to innovation, we’re empowering our customers to safeguard their finances and navigate the digital world with confidence”.

Unauthorised Fraud Trends

Card Fraud: constitutes 98% of all fraud cases, with common tactics including Phishing attacks. To contrast these techniques, Revolut’s virtual disposable cards offer enhanced protection since they can be used only once, resulting in significantly lower fraud rates compared to traditional cards.

Physical Theft: despite impacting only 1% of the victims, physical theft drove 39% of all unauthorised fraud losses experienced by Revolut’s customers in 2023. Nowadays, fraudsters are operating in structured criminal networks, able to watch how people are using their phones and capture passcodes with attentive techniques. To reduce this risk it is important to always be vigilant of the surroundings when adding a pincode and not to store the login credentials on the phone.

Authorised Fraud Trends

Job scams: have surged over 1200% over 2023, targeting young individuals seeking employment opportunities.

Investment scams: increased by 142% last year.. The majority of these scams offer Bitcoin, or other crypto investment opportunities. The anonymity that crypto offers has attracted scammers who offer higher guaranteed returns on crypto investments.

Purchase scams: remain the most popular type of scam across every country, constituting 63% of all reported scams in 2023 but less than 15% of the overall value lost.

Revolut’s top tips to avoid purchase scams

Shop with reputable and reliable retailers - check online reviews. Genuine and trustworthy sellers will have good reviews in general, not a mix of bad or no reviews at all.

Ask questions - Be cautious if the seller avoids sharing information or pressures you to make quick payments. Request to inspect high-value items in person or through video and obtain relevant documentation to verify the seller’s ownership.

Choose a safe way to pay (like Revolut single use virtual cards!) - always use a debit or credit card. Fraudsters may ask you to pay by bank transfer instead of card payment. Transfers are hard to trace and in case of scam, we have limited possibilities of getting your money back.

Never ignore Revolut in-app warnings, especially if the seller is pushing you to make the payment fast.

Verify the website’s authenticity - type its address into your web browser. Don’t follow links in unsolicited emails or texts. Once you access the website, check if it looks relatively professional. Colours, logo or layout which don’t look right can indicate the website is fake.

And finally, always remember - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.