£600 Million Lost to Fraud in 2025 Highlights the Scale of the Threat to UK Businesses

The latest figures from UK Finance paint a troubling picture of the nation’s fraud landscape. In just the first six months of 2025, criminals stole £629.3 million, a three per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

The report shows that fraud remains one of the most significant threats to the UK economy, with over 2.09 million confirmed cases recorded, a 17 per cent rise year-on-year. While financial institutions prevented a remarkable £870 million of unauthorised fraud using advanced security systems, the findings reveal that the challenge continues to grow in both scale and complexity.

The Changing Nature of Fraud

Fraud in 2025 has evolved beyond traditional banking scams. Most cases now begin outside the financial sector, primarily online or over the phone, where criminals use manipulation and deception to gain victims’ trust before any payment is made.

According to UK Finance, 66 per cent of authorised push payment (APP) scams originated online, and a further 17 per cent began through telecommunications networks. This highlights how social media, messaging services and online marketplaces have become key tools for fraudsters seeking new victims.

Despite ongoing investment in security and prevention, the financial services sector continues to carry the greatest burden of protection, but the report stresses that other industries must now share responsibility.

A Closer Look at the Numbers

Unauthorised fraud losses across cards, remote banking and cheques totalled £372 million, a slight three per cent decrease from 2024. However, the number of cases rose by nearly 19 per cent, indicating that criminals are targeting more victims, often for smaller sums.

There were also significant year-on-year changes:

• Cheque fraud fell by 41 per cent.
• Remote banking fraud dropped by 24 per cent.
• Card-not-present fraud, where stolen card details are used online, rose by 22 per cent.

Banks prevented £870 million of unauthorised fraud, 20 per cent more than the same period in 2024, and 98 per cent of victims were fully refunded.

In contrast, Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud losses increased to £257.5 million, driven largely by investment scams. These rose by 55 per cent, totalling £97.7 million, as fraudsters convinced victims to transfer large sums into fake investment schemes. Purchase scams accounted for 72 per cent of all APP cases, while romance scams increased by 35 per cent.

Encouragingly, impersonation fraud, where criminals pose as police or bank officials, saw notable declines in both volume and value, thanks in part to public education campaigns.

The Call for a Unified Response

UK Finance has urged the government to make prevention a central part of its upcoming Fraud Strategy. The organisation emphasises that fraud prevention cannot rest solely on banks; technology, telecoms and social media companies must also take responsibility by sharing intelligence, improving verification processes, and contributing financially to reimbursement schemes.

Ben Donaldson, Managing Director of Economic Crime at UK Finance, stated:

“Fraud continues to be a major threat to our society and our economy… The scale of the threat is not commensurate with the current level of government investment in countering it or the insufficient action by other sectors.”

Jonathan Frost, Global Advisory Director at Bio Catch, added that while UK banks prevented 70 pence of every £1 attempted, “stopping APP fraud will require more than just technology, it demands cross-industry collaboration and real-time intelligence sharing.”

What It Means for Businesses

At A Jolly Consulting, we see these findings as a clear warning to all organisations, not just those in finance. The fact that two-thirds of APP fraud originates online shows that any business with a digital footprint could inadvertently become part of the fraud chain, either as a target or as an unknowing facilitator.

To reduce exposure and strengthen resilience, we recommend that businesses:

• Train employees to recognise social engineering and suspicious payment requests.
• Review digital processes to ensure secure verification of customer and supplier details.
• Establish fraud-response procedures for detecting, reporting and containing incidents.
• Collaborate across sectors to share data and intelligence on emerging threats.
• Educate customers through awareness campaigns to reduce the success of deception-based scams.

Fraud prevention is no longer just a compliance measure; it is a strategic necessity for protecting revenue, brand reputation and customer trust.

Conclusion

The £629 million lost in the first half of 2025 serves as a reminder that fraud is evolving faster than many organisations’ defences. Yet, the success of banks in stopping £870 million of attempted fraud proves that prevention works when the right systems and partnerships are in place.

Now is the time for businesses, across all industries, to assess their vulnerabilities, educate their teams, and invest in robust fraud-prevention frameworks.

At AJC, we are committed to helping UK organisations stay one step ahead of fraudsters, turning awareness into action and resilience into results.

How AJC Can Help

As a UK-based fraud and cyber-security consultancy, AJC supports organisations in building proactive, tailored defences against financial crime.

Our services include:

• Comprehensive fraud-risk assessments
• Staff training and awareness programmes
• Policy development aligned with regulatory standards
• Incident-response planning and investigation support
• Guidance on cross-sector collaboration and best practice

We help businesses not only respond to fraud but prevent it before it happens.

Click here, to find out more about our Fraud Prevention services.

Contact us on 020 7101 4861 or email us at info@ajollyconsulting.co.uk if you think we can help.

Sources:

https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/

Image accreditation: Getty Images from Unsplash.com+. Last accessed on 3rd November 2025. Available here.