Individuals lost an estimated GBP 10 billion to fraud in 2016 while the private sector lost around GBP 144 billion, according to the Annual Fraud Indicator.
Although the losses due to online fraud are increasing, the National Audit Office (NAO) says not enough is being done to tackle the problem. Cyber-related fraud accounted for 16% of all estimated crime incidents in the year ending September 2016, with an estimated 1.9 million cases. The NAO is concerned that the resources to tackle online fraud are insuficient and said that cybercrime continues to be overlooked by government officials.
Online fraud is a low value but high volume crime. In 40% of cases, individuals reported losses of GBP 250 or more. Meanwhile, there has been an increase of 103% in cases of card not present fraud, which includes internet fraud, between 2011 and 2014.
Moreover, an estimated GBP 130 million are currently held in banks that cannot accurately be traced back and returned to fraud victims. The report found that communication between agencies is poor and that there is no legal requirement for banks to report fraud or share reports with government, which makes it difficult to oblige financial institutions to take resposnability for online fraud.
According to the NAO, the nature of online fraud and the lack of response from officials as well as a lack of communications makes it difficult to accurately determine the size of the problem. The report also suggests that consumers are unaware of the risks and can easily fall victims to cybercriminals.
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