AI tech drives steep hike in fraud scams

FRAUD losses hit £629million in the first half of the year, driven by new investment scams and record card fraud, as AI tech enables criminals to commit more sophisticated scams.

- By John Smith

In the first six months of 2025, there were more than two million fraud cases, a 17% increase, says trade body UK Finance.

There was a rise in total losses, driven by larger amounts stolen through authorised payment fraud (APP), which rose 12% to £257.5m.

Investment scams were singled out as being the primary driver, increasing by a massive 55% to £97.7m. These now account for 38% of APP losses and have an average loss of more than 20 times that of a purchase scam.