The 5 fraud trends you need to know about

Reports of social media and email hacking increased by 55% in 2023. Meanwhile, fraud recovery scams – targeting people who have already lost money to a previous scam – rose by a third. 

Around 3.1 million fraud offences were committed in England and Wales in the year to December 2023, according to a new Office for National Statistics (ONS) report.

This is a reduction of 16% compared with 2022, but fraud still accounted for almost 40% of all crimes recorded. 

Here we take a closer look at data from Action Fraud to identify five growing threats, and explain how to avoid being scammed. 

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1. Social media and email hacking (up 55%)

Action Fraud, the UK's fraud reporting centre, says 22,530 people reported that their online accounts had been hacked in 2023, with victims losing a total of £1.3m. 

Fraudsters who hack into your social media and email accounts can do a lot of damage, including contacting your friends and family, sending them fake gift card requests posing as you, selling your data on the dark web, or stealing your identity.

One step you can take is to protect your accounts with two-factor authentication (2FA), as this makes life much harder for hackers. 

You should also choose unique, strong passwords for your accounts and use a password manager if you struggle to remember them. 

• Find out more: protect your social media accounts from hackers

2. Fraud recovery scams (up 31%)

One of the nastiest scams that spiked in 2023 is fraud recovery scams (also known as 'recovery room' scams or recovery fraud). 

This is a form of advance-fee fraud involving fraudsters contacting people who have already lost money to a previous scam, claiming they can help them get their money back. 

They may pretend to be a lawyer, a law enforcement officer or government official, and will ask for an upfront payment for their 'service' before disappearing.

Which? has previously warned that recovery fraudsters stalk vulnerable fraud victims on social media. We've also reported on Binance impersonators targeting people who had previously lost money to a fake investment company by email. 

Sometimes scammers are connected to the same criminals who carried out the original fraud. 

• Find out more: how recovery scammers operate

3. Ticket fraud (up 24%)

Social media is swarming with fake tickets for popular music concerts, sports contests and comedy gigs. 

Scammers are flogging fake tickets for sold-out events such as the Taylor Swift tour, knowing that fans who missed out on tickets through official channels are willing to take the risk. 

The safest option is to stick to primary sellers, such as the venue’s box office, the promoter or an official agent. You may also be able to buy tickets at face value if the promoters have partnered with a site such as Twickets. 

If you've got no option but to buy from a resale site or an individual reseller, be careful about the way you pay.

Where possible, credit cards are the safest option if the tickets are over £100, thanks to Section 75 protection. 

Avoid bank transfers, as money sent directly to someone's account will be difficult to recover if it turns out to be a scam. Use PayPal or another secure payment site instead (make sure you select 'goods and services' not 'friends and family'). 

• Find out more: how to avoid ticket scams

4. Insurance broker fraud (up 35%)

This is when someone poses as an insurance broker, claiming to offer car insurance with significantly reduced premiums. 

If you attempt to make a claim on the policy, you'll discover you were never insured or have a worthless policy. 

Which? has found that social media sites are plagued with ads for fake insurance. Slick scammers may seem professional and informed, and post fake reviews and recommendations. 

• Find out more: ghost brokers – the car insurance that's too good to be true

5. Doorstep scams (up 14%)

Door-to-door scams involve someone calling to your front door with the aim of tricking you out of money. Scammers are often charming and chatty, but the worst can be intimidating and dangerous.

Which? has recently warned about victims of rogue locksmiths experiencing rip-off prices, poor workmanship and intimidation. 

You should be wary of anyone turning up at the door uninvited. Trading Standards advises against buying goods and services on the doorstep altogether. 

To avoid being scammed by someone claiming to be from your energy company, you can call your gas and electricity providers to set up a utilities password so that you can be sure callers (such as meter readers) are genuine. 

If anyone turns up who refuses to leave or is threatening in other ways, call 999. If you're not in immediate danger, call 101, the police non-emergency number.

• Find out more: doorstep scams and how to avoid them

Which? selected five growing threats affecting individuals (not businesses) by looking at fraud types with year-on-year increases, based on reports to Action Fraud in the year to December 2023. Action Fraud collects reports about fraud on behalf of the police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. For fraud in Scotland, report it directly to Police Scotland by calling 101.

What about the most common frauds?

Don't let your guard down when it comes to more widespread scams. 

Online shopping and auction scams dominate reports to Action Fraud, accounting for 20% of the total in 2023. Victims said they lost £49m in total, equivalent to around £700 per report. 

Next in line was advance-fee payment scams that can't be easily classified, such as career opportunity scams, work from home scams, clairvoyant or psychic scams and impersonation of officials. These accounted for 8% of reports and £70m in losses (£2,350 per report). 

Financial investment fraud (for example involving cryptocurrency and investment seminars) accounted for the most losses overall, at £281m (£19,800 per report). 

Fraud reports by age

It can be helpful to understand whether your age makes you more vulnerable to any particular scam. 

For example, people in their 70s were most likely to report computer software service fraud (32% of reports were from this age group). 

This is when fraudsters posing as legitimate companies, such as your internet service provider or Microsoft, claim that there’s a problem with your computer so that they can trick you into granting remote access to your computer or steal your payment details.

The table below shows the most common forms of fraud reported by each age group. 

Notes: Excludes fraud types with less than 100 reports to Action Fraud in 2023.

Fraud reports by region

There can also be a disparity in reporting rates between regions. 

In the East of England, there were 51 fraud reports to Action Fraud per 10,000 people, while in London there 46 reports per 10,000. 

As shown below, Northern Irish residents are less likely to report fraud to Action (20 reports per 10,000) while the North East is the English region with the lowest rate of reporting (29 reports per 10,000). 

This matches previous analysis from Which? looking at the regional divide in fraud reporting.