Josh Gunnell, director of fraud & ID at TransUnion in the UK, comments on the recent ONS fraud statistics: 

“The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics affirm that fraud levels remain concerningly high. The data shows an increase of 41% in fraud overall, compared with the year ending December 2019. Advanced fee fraud and consumer and retail fraud were of particular concern, as fraudsters take advantage of shifts in consumer behaviour due to the pandemic.

“Phishing is confirmed as one of the main methods used to commit fraud, with over half (53%) of respondents surveyed[i] saying they had experienced attempted phishing in the last month alone. This aligns with the findings in our Global Digital Fraud Trends report, which highlighted phishing as one of the biggest concerns for UK consumers – the majority of whom now manage all their transactions online[ii].

“The challenging events of the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis have significantly impacted the cybercrime environment. This means it’s essential for finance providers to ensure they are mitigating digital fraud risks to guarantee customer protection over a potentially challenging next few months.”