A fraudster will deceive their victim into sending money straight from their account to an account under the criminal’s control in an Authorized Push Payment (APP) fraud.
Fraudsters use multiple methods to deceive the victims. Following are the common APP fraud scams.
Prevalent APP Fraud Scams
Investment Scam: Fraudsters convince their victim to move their money to a fictitious fund or to pay for a fake investment. 10,085 investment scams were filed amounting to £114.1m in 2022 . £57.2m was lost in the first half of 2023.
Impersonation Scam: Fraudsters, pretending to be either police or bank , convinces the victim to make a payment to an account they control. In the year 2022 16,948 impersonation scams amounting to £109.8m were filed. In the first half of 2023 £43.5m was reported as lost.
Purchase Scam: Victim pays in advance for goods or services that are never received. In 2022 117,170 purchase scams were filed amounting to £67m. In the first half of 2023, £40.9m was reported as lost due to purchase scams.
Invoice Scam: Victim attempts to pay an invoice to a legitimate payee, but the fraudster intervenes to convince the victim to redirect the payment to an account they control. In 2022, 3,340 purchase scams were filed amounting to £49.5m. The reported invoice scam fraud amounts to £24.8m in the first half of 2023.
Advance Fee Scam: Fraudsters convince their victim to pay a fee which they claim will result in the release of a much larger payment or as a deposit for high-value goods and holidays. 27,329 purchase scams were filed amounting to £32.2m in the year 2022. In the first half of 2023, £15.1m was reported as lost.
