The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that fraud and computer misuse offences have risen considerably since 2020, driven largely by ‘advance fee’ and ‘consumer and retail’ fraud.

Overall fraud offences increased by 25% from 3.8m offences in 2020 (£1.26bn) to 4.5m offences in 2022, with a large proportion being cyber-related.

However, bank and credit account fraud was the most common fraud, representing 73% of total instances of fraud.

Unauthorised financial fraud losses totalled £730.4m in 2021, a decrease of 7% compared to 2020.

Advance fee fraud, which includes the transfer of money, wealth, or gifts, averaged 73% and consumer and retail fraud 46%.