Annual Fraud Report 2026 (UK Finance)

Summary

• Fraud losses reached £1.28 billion in 2025, the highest since 2021, across nearly 4.1 million confirmed cases.p.13
• Authorised fraud losses were £576.4m, up 19%, while unauthorised losses were £703.4m, down 5%.p.13
• On average eight people were defrauded every minute, with almost £2,500 lost in that minute.p.5
• 66 per cent of APP fraud begins online and a further 17 per cent via telecoms.p.5
• 88 per cent of in scope APP losses were reimbursed in the first year of the PSR reimbursement rules.p.6
• Investment scams caused £221.5m in losses, the highest ever for the scam type.p.18

Key insights

1. The Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit saved £273 million in 2025, up from £64.9 million in 2024.p.7
2. The Banking Protocol prevented £58.8 million from being stolen in 2025 and led to 12,034 emergency calls.p.8
3. Mobile banking fraud cases hit a record of just over 25,000, a 21 per cent increase on 2024.p.16
4. Remote purchase (card not present) fraud cases rose 13 per cent to a total value of £423.5 million.p.15
5. The average remote purchase fraud case value fell from £300 in 2016 to £132 in 2025, a 56% reduction.p.25
6. Nasdaq Verafin estimates global consumers lost £430 billion to fraud in 2025.p.10
7. BioCatch data shows a 62 per cent spike in scam attempts in 2025 across over one hundred million accounts.p.10
8. Cheque fraud losses of £4.1m were the lowest ever reported.p.30
9. Card ID theft losses in 2025 fell 32% compared with 2023.p.26
10. Remote banking fraud losses fell 27 per cent while cases rose 11 per cent.p.16