UK adults lost 17bn to financial scams
December 5, 2023
The average amount UK adults lost to financial scams was £17bn, according to research from Canada Life.
In the last 12 months one in two UK adults have either experienced a financial scam attempt or know someone who has. This equates to roughly 26.8million people, of which 3.6million personally became victims of the scam.
It said that the average amount lost to scams was £4,715 per person, which amounts to £17billion as a nation.
When it comes to getting all of their money back, 43% of victims were successful, but 26% sadly did not recover any of their stolen funds.
Top Three Financial Scams
The research also revealed the top three financial scam types and the current most common scam involves tax or debt collection, which made up 32% of cases.
Advance fee scams, which accounted for 25% of cases, usually involve a scammer trying to get the victim to pay an upfront fee or provide or bank details in order to receive money that is supposedly owed to them.
The ‘hello mum’ scams made up 23% of scam cases. This scam usually involves a scammer posing as a child or grandchild requesting an urgent bill or payment to be made. They also usually claim to have lost or damaged their phone as a way to explain the different number the message comes from.
The research also found that 40% of people have been targeted in financial scams via email, text or voicemail – otherwise known as phishing, smishing or vishing.
Scammers aren’t ageist
The findings also showed over 55’s are more likely to have been targeted in a scam attempt (48%) but are less likely to become victims compared to younger demographics.
A greater proportion people aged 18–34 have fallen victim to a financial scam (18%) compared to those in an older age group.
The role of AI in financial Scams
It seems there is an awareness of the potential role of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and financial scams with 67% of UK adults agreeing that AI ‘will make financial scams more sophisticated’
While 48% believe AI ‘will make it more likely’ that they would fall for a financial scam.
Of those who experienced a scam attempt, 7% said this was via AI.