Rising Scam Trends 2024 : Barclays Bulletin

Barclays has started a new scams bulletin every two months to keep track of and analyse fraud trends in personal and business accounts. This bulletin provides insights into different types of scams, who is affected, and how scammers operate, helping to fight against these frauds.

The latest bulletin shows that the total value and number of scam claims for March and April 2024 have dropped by 15.7% and 7.1% respectively, compared to January and February. However, while some scams have decreased, others have increased.

Mandate Scams

Mandate scams, also called direct deposit or direct debit fraud, involve scammers tricking organisations into changing the bank account details for regular payments like payroll or supplier payments. Scammers pretend to be trusted entities and provide new, fake account details. Once the organisation updates its system, payments go to the scammer’s account, often resulting in significant financial losses only discovered when the legitimate payee reports missing payments.

Invoice Scams

Invoice scams involve scammers tricking individuals or businesses into paying fake invoices or redirecting legitimate payments to fraudulent accounts. They often impersonate legitimate suppliers or service providers through phishing emails with fake invoices or by hacking vendor email accounts. These fake invoices usually include urgent payment requests, pressuring the victim to act quickly without verifying.

Recent Trends

The bulletin notes a 6.9% increase in invoice and mandate scams for March and April, with the average claim exceeding ￡8,600. These scams have become more sophisticated, involving realistic fake emails. High-value cases among individuals aged 61-70 have also risen, with average claims of ￡12,000.

Smishing Scams

Scams via text or messaging apps made up 8.2% of all scam claims in March-April 2024, slightly down from January-February’s 8.5%. Although these scams represent a smaller share of the total claim value (5.6%), the average claim of ￡2,100 indicates that "smishing" (fraudulent SMS messages) remains common for lower-value scams.

Decline in Police and Bank Impersonation Scams

The bulletin reports a 32.9% decrease in the volume of police and bank impersonation scams for March-April, with the total value of these scams falling by 54.3%. Despite this overall decline, individuals aged 70+ still represent a significant proportion of victims, and there has been an increase in claims from the 31-40 age group.

Conclusion

Barclays’ bi-monthly scams bulletin offers detailed insights and expert commentary on emerging fraud trends. The latest data reveals significant trends, including a rise in invoice and mandate scams and a decline in police and bank impersonation scams.