Imagine waking up to find your bank account emptied.
No hacker had breached your account. You were responsible; tricked into sending money by a fraudster.
This is the reality for many victims of authorised push payment fraud (APP) fraud.
Last year, the UK payments sector held its breath as new mandatory reimbursement rules came into force, promising to make victims whole again but raising fears they might also incentivise criminals.
However, the latest UK Finance 2025 Annual Fraud Report offers surprising hope. APP fraud cases and losses are down, suggesting the industry’s efforts and these new rules might be working.
A look at the numbers
UK Finance examined APP fraud across payment types, such as Faster Payments, International, CHAPS, BACS and Intra bank transfer, as well as channels, including branch, internet banking, telephone banking and mobile banking.
Faster Payments remained the top target, accounting for 96% of fraud cases in 2024. The number of scams dropped 18% to around 337,000, but losses only fell 8% to £351m. This shows fraudsters are focusing on larger payments.
There are several reasons why Faster Payments are so attractive to fraudsters. Their speed and ease stand out, as transfers happen almost instantly, making them harder to detect and leaving little time for authorities to act.
Another key factor is that these payments are final and cannot be reversed. Unlike some traditional banking methods where transactions can sometimes be undone, Faster Payments are irrevocable, which benefits criminals.
International payments tell a different story. Fraud cases jumped 81% to nearly 6,000, while losses almost doubled, rising 93% to £50m.
Ben Donaldson, Managing Director of Economic Crime at UK Finance, noted in the report’s foreword: “The reimbursement rules help consumers but haven’t stopped fraudsters. If anything, they may have shifted focus to international payments, which are harder to police.”
While the Payment Systems Regulator’s (PSR) reimbursement rules appear to have proven sceptics wrong, this trend shows APP Fraud and fraud in general is a global matter which requires a joint effort.
Other payment types showed mixed trends. Intra-bank transfers saw a worrying 172% increase in fraud volume and a 148% jump in losses, pointing to emerging weaknesses inside banks. Meanwhile, CHAPS and BACS payments both declined in volume and value.
Mobile banking is where most APP fraud happens, accounting for 74% of scams. While fraud volume fell 7%, losses rose 22% to £203m. This fits with concerns about neobanks’ fast onboarding processes, which can make fraud harder to spot due to more complex customer profiles.
Internet banking fraud dropped sharply, down 34% in volume and 17% in losses, likely thanks to stronger security like multi-factor authentication.
Telephone banking fraud cases fell by 52%, but losses increased 10%, suggesting criminals are targeting fewer, higher-value payments.
Branch banking scams continue to decline, with both volume and losses dropping significantly, a trend linked to the UK’s shrinking branch network as more people switch to digital banking.
The fight goes on
Looking ahead, the early months since the introduction of mandatory APP reimbursement rules show promising progress. Victims are increasingly being reimbursed, with a reported 86% of lost funds returned in the initial period.
The new shared-cost model, where both sending and receiving payment service providers bear responsibility, has sparked better collaboration and quicker responses to scam claims. However, some challenges remain, such as improving information sharing between firms.
However, fraudsters continue to adapt, shifting to more complex payment channels like international and intra-bank transfers, where oversight is more difficult.
Most importantly, protecting consumers remains the core mission. Fraud has real emotional and financial consequences, and success will depend on the continued partnership between banks, regulators, technology providers and consumers themselves.
“Our collective priority should be preventing these crimes from happening in the first place. We need layers of defence spanning the technology, telecommunications, financial services, and public sectors. Proactive prevention is the key to managing this national threat, because action will beat reaction 100 per cent of the time,” concluded Donaldson.
