UK faces surge in online fraud attacks

According to a recent report by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, the UK saw a dramatic increase in online fraud assaults in 2022, nearly doubling the volumes as the scam epidemic persisted.

According to the survey, there were almost 36 million human-initiated fraud assaults in the UK in 2014, a 92% rise from the previous year. In contrast, the rate of growth around the world was 56%.

The data also revealed a sharp increase in automated bot attacks, with 352 million such assaults on UK targets in 2022—an 81 percent increase from the previous year. In the UK, these bot attacks accounted for about 2% of all internet transactions.

Bot attacks, which are characterized by sophisticated algorithms and automated scripts, include website disruptions, phishing attempts, and smishing assaults intended to steal data.

The study of more than 15.8 billion UK transactions that were processed by the LexisNexis® Digital Identity Network served as the foundation for these conclusions. In contrast to the rest of the world, the UK showed a significantly lower assault rate despite the rise in fraud volumes.

UK outlook

In the UK, the success rate of fraud attacks, calculated as the ratio of successful assaults to total transaction volumes, was 0.2%, much lower than the global rate of 1.3%.

This decreased assault rate is a result of the modern financial services industry in the UK, which annually invests billions in high-tech fraud protection measures. Additionally, the widespread use of mobile and app-based online banking services has been essential in reducing the number of successful fraud attempts against UK users. In the UK, mobile devices are used to process around 88% of financial services transactions, with apps accounting for 89% of those transactions.

Scams, which account for 38.2% of fraud attacks, were the most prevalent type of fraud identified in the UK investigation, followed by first-party fraud (29.3%) and third-party account takeover fraud (13%).

The UK has a bright future in its fight against fraud, according to Rob Woods, a fraud and identification expert for LexisNexis Risk Solutions, UK & Ireland.

This analysis demonstrates that, despite increased overall volumes, the UK’s highly developed and technologically advanced fraud prevention sector is successfully reducing fraud, such as large-scale third party fraud, which is seriously hurting other parts of the world. Other fraud typologies will inevitably arise to fill this gap, such as First Party Fraud, which is currently a major issue in the UK.

Influence of fraud

By adopting AI-powered fraud analysis, shared intelligence, and the rising use of secure mobile and app channels for online services, the UK financial services industry is decreasing the effect of fraud on its clients, according to Woods.

Financial institutions have successfully responded to the rise in fraud attacks over the past 18 months by putting more of an emphasis on cultivating a loyal customer base. This has resulted in higher levels of “trusted customer traffic” that can be quickly authenticated and granted access to online services, giving banks more time to concentrate on identifying and preventing malicious traffic.

“However, although the news is good, businesses cannot afford to be complacent,” the statement continued, “fraud attack rates are lower in the UK, but they increased at a faster rate last year.”