Financial Crime
70% of UK APP fraud originates on social media, online markets
• 0 minute read
May 28, 2025
Social media and online marketplaces originated 70% of authorised push payment (APP) fraud in the UK last year, according to a report by UK Finance, published on May 28. These digital platforms contributed up to 29% of total fraud losses in 2024.
While APP fraud dropped overall, the UK witnessed a surge in purchase scams, and international payments frauds increased by 15% year-on-year, the report found.
Online marketplaces
Online marketplaces are popular among purchase scammers, who target victims browsing for second-hand or auctioned products. These “fake products” can range from cars to holiday rentals to concert tickets. Commonly, once the victim sends the money, the seller vanishes and nothing is delivered.
In 2024, purchase fraud losses hit a high of £87.1 million in the UK, while recorded cases surged from 84,292 in 2020 to 131,447.
Traditional sources of scams — telecommunications — have seen a continuous decline since 2022, dropping to 18% by volume in 2024. However, by value the channel still accounts for 36% of UK fraud losses since because of higher-value cases.
“Since most scams start online or via telecoms, stopping them requires a united cross-sector effort,” said Dal Sahota, head of trusted payments at LSEG Risk Intelligence. “To truly protect consumers and business, banks, tech firms, retailers and telecoms must work together — implementing real-time payee checks and stronger identity verification — to stop fraud before it starts.”
Reimbursement now mandated
Previously, the Voluntary Code allowed victims to claim compensation from 10 designated payment service providers (PSPs) until it was replaced by the Payment Systems Regulatorʼs (PSR) mandatory reimbursement rules in October 2024. Under the PSR regime, reimbursement costs must be split 50/50 between the sending and receiving financial institutions.
The last dataset under the Voluntary Code regime revealed that £201.2 million out of £293 million was returned to victims last year. The number of APP fraud cases also fell by 20% in 2024, marking the lowest figure since 2021.
However, with the increasing trend of remote purchase fraud, the overall decline in APP fraud probably indicates a change in fraudsters’ methods, said UK Finance.
On May 28, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) sent letters to social media platforms, “encouraging” them to take proactive steps to prevent the promotion of unauthorised financial services.
The social media companies include: X, Meta, TikTok, Alphabet, Telegram, Snap, Amazon, Apple, Google and Reddit.
LSEG’s Sahota added: “APP fraud may be declining, but the financial and emotional toll remains unacceptably high. While it’s encouraging that PSR rules are leading to more reimbursements, the real goal must be prevention.”
International fraud returns
Cross-border fraudsters are also making a return: UK Finance reported £154 million in losses from international payments fraud last year, representing a 15% year-on-year increase.
“Fraud continues to blight this country, with over £1 billion stolen by criminals in 2024. This causes severe harm to individuals, society and our economy as the stolen money goes to serious organised crime groups, both here and abroad,” said Ben Donaldson, managing director for economic crime at UK Finance, in a statement.
In February, the City of London Police and the National Crime Agency (NCA) arrested 433 fraudsters across the UK under the multi-agency Operation Henhouse. The enforcement agencies froze £4 million in transactions and seized cash and assets worth £7.5 million in total.
“The National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) continues to work closely with law enforcement partners, the private sector and international counterparts to disrupt the highest harm organised crime groups who use technology to launch frauds on an industrial scale, often from overseas,” said Nick Sharp, deputy director fraud at the NECC, which comes under the NCA, in a statement.