More than one million incidents of financial fraud occurred in the first six months of 2016, according to official figures released by Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK). This represents a 53 per cent increase compared with the same period last year, meaning an incident of fraud occurred in the UK every 15 seconds between January and June 2016.

The data revealed that three quarters of people claim to be aware of the methods fraudsters use, while 26 per cent admit that they still provide personal details to people claiming to be from their bank even if they do not think they should.

The most common reason for respondents sharing their details was because they felt the person seemed genuine (43 per cent), while almost four in ten said it was because they felt pressured.

In response, FFA UK and all of the major banks and key financial services providers have collaborated to launch a national campaign to combat this increase in fraud. The campaign, Take Five, focuses on financial frauds directly targeting customers, such as email deception and phone and text-based scams.

Katy Worobec, director of FFA UK, said: “Last year, banks stopped £7 in £10 of attempted fraud from happening. But as the banks’ systems get more advanced, fraudsters turn their attention elsewhere and sadly this often means tricking people out of their personal details and money. Alongside the banks, people can also play an important part in helping us to stop financial fraud and protect themselves.”

Share Story: