The loss from financial fraud was £366.4 million in the first half of 2017, according to figures from UK Finance, the financial industry association (representing providers of services including banking, cards, mortgages, payments and financial fraud). The decrease in fraud, which covers payment cards, remote banking and cheques, is 8 per cent lower year-on-year. The data also shows that the industry prevented over £750 million of fraud during the same period, or 67 per cent of attempted fraud. This compares with £400.4 million of losses and £678.7 million of prevented fraud in the first half of 2016.

From January to June 2017 the breakdown of data is as follows:

• card fraud was down 11 per cent on the same period of 2016, at £287.3 million, with over £500 million attempted card;
• remote banking fraud totalled £73.8 million, a 3 per cent rise from the same period of 2016, and £160.2 million of remote banking fraud was prevented;
• cheque fraud dropped by 28 per cent and losses fell to £5.3 million, while £88.8 million of cheque fraud was prevented;
• in total there were 937,518 cases of financial fraud, a figure that has remained stable compared with the same period the year before.

These figures have been published just as the UK government is launching a campaign to raise consumer awareness of the dangers of fraud and how keep their banking and personal data safe. The government advice – which also equally applies to financial professionals – includes:

• A genuine bank or organisation will never contact you asking for your PIN, full password or to move money to a safe account.
• Never give out personal or financial information. Always contact the company directly using a known email or phone number.
• Don’t be tricked into giving a fraudster access to your details. Never automatically click on a link in an unexpected email or text.
• Always question uninvited approaches, in case it’s a scam.