The UK lost £1.2 billion to fraud in 2022, with three million scams taking place, according to new data from banking and finance industry group UK Finance.

The Annual Fraud Report detailed losses of over £2,300 every minute, with 78 per cent of cases occurring online, targeting unsuspecting Brits.

Despite this, the banking and finance industry was said to have prevented a further £1.2 billion of unauthorised fraud, with the total number of cases down by four per cent and the value of losses down eight per cent compared to 2021.

Wayne Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Encompass Corporation, commented: “Technology is a key factor in protecting the wider public and businesses against financial crime, and reducing the rate of economic crime overall.

“Leveraging the latest in technology solutions, such as dynamic Know Your Customer (KYC) process automation, for example, can significantly increase the effectiveness of KYC processes and overall compliance by ensuring access to the most complete and up-to-date information, while also helping to identify risk faster."

“The Government has already outlined positive strategies, with the Economic Crime Plan 2 and the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill introduced to protect the UK from the impact of financial crime, and these efforts go hand-in-hand with assistance from the regulator. The wider industry and policymakers must work to promote innovation and take a proactive approach to tackling this ongoing issue if we are to see tangible outcomes,” Johnson added.

David Postings, Chief Executive at UK Finance, said: “Fraud has a devastating impact on victims and over £1.2 billion was stolen by criminals last year. The banking and finance sector is at the forefront of efforts to tackle this criminal activity. The sector spends billions on detection and prevention and also refunds people who have fallen victim, even if the fraud originated outside the banking system.

“Our data also makes clear just how much fraud emanates from online platforms and through telecommunications. The Government’s new fraud strategy rightly says we need to focus on stopping it at source and that these other sectors need to do far more to tackle the problem they are facilitating.”

The news comes following the Home Office’s introduction of the Failure To Prevent Fraud Offence, brought in to improve protection of businesses and consumers as part of the Government’s ongoing efforts to reduce financial crime in the UK.