Nearly half (47%) of 18-34 year-olds in the UK lost money to fraud or scams during the last year, a stark reminder that fraudsters are increasingly targeting the digital-savvy younger generations. New research from fraud and financial crime prevention company Featurespace, a Visa Solution, reveals the scale of the problem.

These findings suggest that people in this age group are most at risk of falling victim to scams – just 15% of people over 55 lost money to fraud or scams during the last 12 months.

Eight in ten (78%) people across the UK believe there has been an increase in scam attempts in the last 12 months.

More than three quarters (77%) of those aged 18-34 feel there is an increase in scam attempts around periods such as Christmas.

Younger people have also lost more from scams over the last year – 18-34 year-olds lost an average of £3,070 compared to £1,760 amongst those over 55.

Eight in ten (78%) financial institutions say that the amount their customers have lost due to a scam has increased over the last year. Nine in ten (90%) financial institutions in the UK have already increased investment in anti-fraud and scam measures over the past 12 months.

Financial crime accounts for 41% of all criminal activity in the UK, contributing £2.3bn in losses annually* – with 217,000 fraud incidents recorded by the UK’s National Fraud database during the first six months of 2025**.

More than eight in ten (85%) people admit they’re worried about how sophisticated scammers are becoming with the increased use of new technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Fake website scams are the most common type of scam that 18-34 year-olds have lost money to – a third (32%) of fraud victims said they’d been hit by this method. Other common types of scams include those over social media (24% of fraud victims lost money to this scam), investment opportunities (22%) and cryptocurrency scams (22%).

There is strong demand amongst consumers for enhanced protections from fraud – 80% of people aged 18-34 want their bank to do more to keep them safe from fraud and scams whilst 78% think the government should work more closely with banks and financial providers to tackle fraud.

Jason Blackhurst, SVP, Head of Featurespace and Acceptance Risk Solutions at Visa, says: “Young consumers are losing thousands to increasingly sophisticated scams. With Black Friday and Christmas around the corner, banks must act fast. AI-powered fraud prevention is becoming increasingly essential, with those who lag behind at risk of losing customer trust and market share. As scams evolve, so must our defences. It’s time for banks, tech providers, and regulators to collaborate and protect the next generation of consumers.”

Featurespace provides ground-breaking solutions using AI and machine learning to help banks and financial institutions crack down on fraud. It 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.   

Featurespace’s technology has successfully protected more than 500 million consumers globally in over 100 countries.