At the moment, we seem to be targeted with scams on a daily basis – whether it’s tickets for globally popular events, shopping deals or “too good to be true” holiday deals on social media. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to change anytime soon. As a rule of thumb, if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.
According to the latest figures from UK Finance, a total of £1.28 billion million was stolen by criminals during 2025, with around four million confirmed cases across both authorised and unauthorised fraud. Overall, UK fraud losses jumped 4% year-on-year.
Fraud and financial crime now account for 41% of all recorded criminal activity in the UK. Today’s cybercriminals have more attack vectors to exploit – whether it’s targeting the irrevocable nature of real-time payments through Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams or leveraging sophisticated deepfake technologies that can dupe even the savviest consumers.
The long-term damage of fraud – whether financial, psychological or emotional – can be huge.
Londoners are suffering more than most – and depending on merchants to protect them by staying on top of the latest tactics employed by fraudsters as well as the technological advancements that can stop them in their tracks.
Capital concerns
Our research reveals three in ten (29%) Londoners wouldn’t report being scammed if they lost under £100, which is nearly double the national average (17%).
It would appear they would rather absorb the loss than face up to the stigma and judgement they associate with falling victim to a fraudulent attack. More than half (51%) of those living in the capital say they are concerned about being judged if they were to succumb to a scam, compared with 39% nationally, and 60% say they would feel embarrassed about admitting it.
These findings highlight the emotional weight that many consumers attach to falling victim to fraud or scams, which is resulting in the underreporting of crime as well as increased levels of stress. A study by Lloyds Banking Groupfound seven in ten (69%) fraud victims have subsequently reported a negative impact on their mental health.
Worryingly, things look set to get worse. We found 58% of Londoners have seen an increase in scam attempts over the past 12 months, which is above the 50% national average, while 43% believe they’re being increasingly targeted with personalised brands or products they believe are scam attempts on social media.
Despite this, only 68% of people in London will subsequently avoid making purchases from links shared or sent to them on social media due to a fear of financial fraud and scams, again below the national average figure of 75%. It seems that although Londoners are the most likely to be exposed to fraud and scam attempts, they’re also those engaging in the riskiest behaviour.
AI is reshaping both sides of the fraud landscape
Advances in AI are further widening the issue. Data shows that bad actors are employing AI-generated scams and deepfakes to impersonate trusted individuals or brands and target consumers with unprecedented sophistication. According to verification platform Sumsub, deepfake fraud attempts have nearly doubled in the UK, rising 94% last year, second only to France (96%) in Europe.5
Again, the problem appears to be most prominent in the capital, with our research showing more than half (57%) of Londoners think AI is making it harder to spot scams, while 66% say scam attempts are much more convincing than they used to be. Two-thirds (66%) are concerned about the risk of financial fraud and scams from AI tools making transactions on their behalf, which means merchants need to navigate the growth of agentic payments responsibly.
Embracing AI can bring benefits at the same time. While cybercriminals can weaponise the latest tools, the technology also offers powerful new capabilities for businesses, from fraud detection to strengthening risk analysis. AI-driven link analysis, in particular, is an important development, mapping complex, hidden relationships between users, devices and transactions in real time.
Tackling the threat
Ultimately, Londoners need support to help keep them safe from fraud and scams.
Education has an important role to play. For example, scammers often pretend to represent a merchant’s brand, so merchants should take the time to educate customers on how to spot a scam advert or offer.
Our research shows that when consumers are informed, they’re better able to make behavioural changes to reduce risk – such as avoiding dangerous links. Businesses with strong customer engagement are in a better position to identify any gaps in awareness – whether that’s about AI-led phishing attacks or APP scams – that can be addressed through awareness campaigns and security tips during checkout.
Retailers should also work with payment service providers (PSPs) to ensure that the latest anti-fraud tools are implemented so they can boost consumer protection and grow revenue.
Tools such as 3D Secure 2 strengthen customer authentication and facilitate frictionless authentication flows, while machine learning models applied to real-time intelligence and enriched transaction data can spot scams at the source.
Robust security measures are no longer solely a compliance requirement; rather, they’re fundamental to building a trusted business that protects consumers in the face of the growing fraud threat.
