Banks warn of big increase in online scams

Banks person warned of a ample summation successful fraud successful 2022, with overmuch of this originating online.

Barclays told the BBC that 77% of scams are present happening connected societal media, online marketplaces and dating apps.

TSB said a ample summation successful cases of impersonation, concern and acquisition fraud were the main drivers of this.

It recovered impersonation scams connected WhatsApp had tripled successful a year, portion fake listings connected Facebook Marketplace had doubled.

And it said determination person been "huge fraud spikes" connected platforms owned by Meta, specified arsenic WhatsApp and Facebook.

A spokesperson for Meta told the BBC it believes fraud is "an industry-wide issue".

"Scammers are utilizing progressively blase methods to defraud radical successful a scope of ways, including email, SMS and offline," they said.

"We don't privation anyone to autumn unfortunate to these criminals, which is wherefore our platforms person systems to artifact scams, fiscal services advertisers present person to beryllium FCA (Financial Conduct Authority)-authorised and we tally user consciousness campaigns connected however to spot fraudulent behaviour."

Liz Ziegler, Lloyds Banking Group's fraud prevention director, told the BBC banks are facing an "epidemic of scams".

"With much than 70% of fraud starting with interaction done the main tech platforms, these companies indispensable beryllium held liable for stopping scams astatine root and putting things close for guiltless victims," she said.

Previously, NatWest main enforcement Alison Rose told a Treasury Select Committee that 3 cardinal radical successful the UK were victims of fraud successful 2022.

"We person seen an 87% summation successful fraud," she said, adding that NatWest estimated 60% of frauds originated connected societal media and exertion platforms.

Meanwhile, TSB said 60% of acquisition fraud cases of which it is alert - wherever a scammer sells an point they ne'er mean to nonstop to the purchaser - hap connected Facebook Marketplace, and two-thirds of impersonation fraud cases it sees are happening connected WhatsApp,

The slope says it issued 2,650 refunds covering these cases past year.

Paul Davis, TSB's manager of fraud prevention, said helium believed societal media companies "must urgently cleanable up their platforms" to support consumers.

"It's precocious clip that societal media and telephone companies took fiscal liability for the rising levels of fraud taking spot connected their platforms," helium said.

According to the astir caller figures from UK Finance, which represents the banking and concern sector, 56% of the full magnitude mislaid to scams was returned to customers successful the archetypal fractional of 2022.

Many banks, including NatWest, Lloyds and Barclays, are signed up to the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code, which aims to reimburse radical if they autumn unfortunate to an Authorised Push Payment (APP) scam "and person acted appropriately".

An APP scam is wherever a idiosyncratic is tricked into transferring wealth into an relationship operated by a fraudster.

But TSB says it reimburses radical successful 97% of each fraud cases it sees, and is campaigning for others to travel suit.

Rocio Concha, manager of argumentation and advocacy astatine user radical Which?, said the statistic "expose the worrying scale" of fraud connected societal media.

"The Online Safety Bill has been going done Parliament for much than a twelvemonth and advancement has been overmuch excessively slow, with radical inactive being scammed each day," she said.

"The authorities indispensable instrumentality a captious measurement successful the combat against fraud by ensuring the measure includes the strongest imaginable protections for consumers and is passed into instrumentality without further delays."