Losses to authorised push payments fraud topped card fraud for the first time in H1 2021, acccording to new figures from UK Finance.
This year, however, criminals focused their activity on APP fraud, in which a customer is tricked into authorising a payment to an account controlled by a criminal.
As a result, UK Finance recorded a 71% increase in APP fraud during the first half of 2021 and, for the first time, the amount of money stolen through APP fraud overtook card fraud losses. All told, authorised push payment (APP) fraud losses in the first half stood at £355.3 million, compared to £261.7 million in losses from card crime.
The issue has become a political football, with campaigning groups calling on the Payment Systems Regulator to ensure banks do more to protect victims and provide them with fair reimbursement.
UK Finance is calling on the Government to step in with a co-ordinated plan using the recently passed Online Safety Bil, to address the issue, which it describes as a “national security threat”.
“Criminals continue to target customers with a variety of scams, often via online platforms, and it is only through coordinated action that we will be able to really make progress in addressing the problem.”