While we all hope it never happens to us, credit card and debit card fraud is common in the UK and criminals attempt to steal hundreds of millions a year this way. Providers and banks do all they can to combat fraud, but you can also stay aware and report anything suspicious immediately. We look at the latest statistics on credit, debit and payment card fraud in the UK.
Credit card fraud statistics: Highlights
£556.3 million was lost to UK credit, debit and other payment card fraud in 2022.
There were 2.73 million cases of payment card fraud in 2022.
A quarter (25%) of all payment card fraud losses happened abroad in 2022.
Payment card fraud made up 45% of financial fraud losses in 2022.
Card ID theft cases were up by 105% year-on-year in 2022.
£6.35 in every £10 (63.5%) of attempted card fraud is stopped by banks and companies.
Each defrauded account lost £204 on average in 2022.
£139.3 million was lost abroad to fraud on UK-issued payment cards.
The total number of card fraud cases in 2022 is up by 122% from 2013.
Online card fraud reached peak losses of £377.2 million in 2020, most likely due to the majority of transactions occurring online during the coronavirus pandemic.
How much is lost due to credit and debit card fraud in the UK?
A total of £556.3 million was lost to fraud on UK-issued debit, credit and other payment cards in 2022. Card fraud made up 45% of the total financial fraud losses in 2022 and the average defrauded account lost £204.
The overall amount of money lost to card fraud is up by 23% compared to 2013, but down 17% when compared with 2018, which was the year with the highest reported fraud losses in the last decade.
£417 million was lost in the UK to payment card fraud, while £139.3 million was lost abroad. This means that 25% of card fraud losses occurred internationally in 2022, while 75% happened within the UK.
How common is credit and debit card fraud in the UK?
There were 2.73 million cases of card fraud in 2022, including credit and debit cards. This is down by 3% from 2021 but up by 122% compared to the number of cases in 2013. Interestingly, while there were fewer cases of payment card fraud in 2022 compared to 2021, the value of losses was higher.
A total of £967 million in card fraud was stopped by banks and card companies in 2022. This means that 63.5%, or the equivalent of £6.35 in every £10 of attempted fraud, is prevented.
Online card fraud statistics
Losses from online card transaction fraud totalled £285.2 million in 2022. The value of losses had been increasing steadily since 2013, reaching a peak of £377.2 million in 2020 most likely due to the majority of transactions occurring online during the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, total losses from e-commerce card fraud have been declining year-on-year.
£139.3 million fraud on UK-issued cards happened internationally in 2022. Ireland was the top country for overseas fraud on UK-issued cards, with 1 in 5 (21%) instances occurring here. This is followed by the USA (15%), Luxembourg (13%), the Netherlands (10%) and Malta (6%).
Percentage of card fraud incidence per foreign country
Ireland
21%
USA
15%
Luxembourg
13%
Netherlands
10%
Malta
6%
What are the different types of card fraud?
1. Remote purchase fraud
Remote purchase fraud occurs when criminals access a person’s account by pretending there is a problem with your account and offering to fix it by gaining remote access to your device.
This was the most common type of UK card fraud in 2022, with over 2 million incidents and almost £400 million worth of losses.
Card skimming occurs when a criminal copies the data from a legitimate credit or debit card and uses this to create a fake plastic card. As the fake card contains real card details, it can be used to make payments.
Levels of card skimming, also known as counterfeit card fraud, have been declining over the past decade, with just 19,594 cases in 2022 compared to over 100,000 in 2013. This is a decrease of 81% in levels of counterfeit card fraud.
Similarly, while UK residents lost a collective £43.3 million to counterfeit card fraud in 2013, this has reduced to just £4.7 million in 2022.
Credit card theft, or lost and stolen card fraud, is fairly self-explanatory. If someone steals your physical payment card or finds it when you lose it, they will be able to make payments.
In 2022, there were over 400,000 cases of lost and stolen card fraud, which totalled losses of over £100 million. There was an increase of 189% in cases of lost and stolen card fraud between 2013 and 2022.
Levels of fraud linked to lost and stolen payment cards decreased in 2020 and 2021, perhaps due to the pandemic and decreased movement, but they were on the rise again in 2022.
Identity fraud happens when someone steals your personal details and uses them to make payments.
There has been a big uptick in the level of card ID theft in the space of one year between 2021 and 2022, with a 105% year-on-year increase from just over 40,000 cases to just over 82,000 cases. The value of losses has also increased, from £26.3 million in 2021 to £51.7 million in 2022.
This type of card fraud occurs when a card is stolen in transit when on its way to the new owner.
The value of losses from this type of card fraud has reduced in recent years, with £4 million lost in 2022 to a total of 8,848 cases compared to £10.4 million lost in 2013 to a total of 9,125 cases.
Fraud relating to cards being intercepted in this way peaked in 2016, when there were 11,377 total cases amounting to losses of £12.5 million.
Emily Herring is a Publisher at Finder specialising in credit-based products including credit cards and business and personal loans. Emily has recently joined the Investments team. She has a Masters in Creative Writing & Publishing and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication & Media. See full bio
Emily's expertise
Emily has written 134 Finder guides across topics including:
Sophie Barber is a content marketing manager for Finder in the UK after previously working as a content manager at a digital marketing agency. She has over 5 years experience in writing and publishing clear, concise and informative online articles for a variety of websites. See full bio
Sophie's expertise
Sophie has written 66 Finder guides across topics including:
Publishing original personal finance research
Creating data-led statistics pages to highlight industry trends
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