Scammers keep scoring: Brits fleeced for £1.3B as Americans lose $3.5B to impersonators

More reasons to love social media and AI

Brits lost £1.28 billion ($1.7 billion) to payment fraud last year as scams continued to thrive on online platforms and telecoms networks, according to the latest figures from banking trade association UK Finance.

The 2025 losses represent a modest four percent rise on the previous year, the trade association said, but the main sources of fraud remained familiar.

UK Finance said two-thirds (66 percent) of incidents start with online platforms, such as scams promoted through social media adverts.

Telecoms accounts for a smaller proportion (17 percent) but encompasses crimes such as impersonation fraud, which can result in larger per-crime losses.

Impersonation fraud

Impersonation fraud is a broad term to describe what some would refer to as a branch of phishing or social engineering.

Scammers contact prospective victims while pretending to represent a bank or other trusted entity, and convince them to pay...

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