UK Finance’s Annual Fraud Report, published in June 2026, put total fraud losses across the UK at £1.28 billion in 2025 – up 4% on the year before. Within that, authorised push payment (APP) fraud, where someone is tricked into sending money themselves rather than having it stolen from them, rose 19% to £576.4 million, and investment fraud specifically rose 40% to £221.5 million. The methods behind those figures have moved on considerably from the obvious warning signs most of us grew up recognising. Below are four of the ones we’re asked about most often, plus what actually happens if one gets through despite your best efforts.
Property fraud: the “Friday afternoon” scam
This one specifically targets the point in a property transaction when a large sum of money is about to move – typically completion day. Fraudsters intercept or spoof an email from a solicitor or conveyancer, often timed for late Friday afternoon when a call-back to check is least convenient, and supply their own bank details instead of the genuine ones. The Law Society, the National Crime Agency and Stop Think Fraud have jointly warned that this remains one of the most damaging scams in the property process, precisely because the sums involved are large and the transaction is already unfamiliar territory for most buyers.
The defence is simple but has to be deliberate: never rely on bank details received by email alone, however official it looks. Phone your solicitor on a number you’ve sourced independently – from their letterhead or website, not from the email itself – and verbally confirm the account details before sending anything. Where the sum allows, sending a small test payment first and confirming it’s arrived is a further safeguard many conveyancers now recommend as standard.
AI voice cloning: a scam that didn’t really exist a few years ago
Modern AI tools can now convincingly clone a person’s voice from as little as three seconds of audio – easily gathered from a voicemail greeting, a social media video, or a work call. Starling Bank’s research with Stop Think Fraud found that 28% of UK adults had already been targeted by an AI voice-cloning scam in the past year, yet 46% were unaware the technology could even be used this way, and only 30% felt confident they’d be able to spot the warning signs if it happened to them. The scam typically involves a call that sounds exactly like a family member in urgent trouble, asking for money to be sent immediately.
The recommended defence is a “safe phrase” – a word or phrase agreed in advance with close family, never shared digitally, that you’d ask for if a call ever felt off. No amount of vocal similarity gets around a phrase the fraudster simply doesn’t have. It costs nothing to set up and is worth agreeing with family now, before it’s ever needed.
Fake invoices and mandate fraud: a growing risk for business owners
Fraud aimed at businesses has become considerably more common. The Home Office’s Economic Crime Survey 2024, published in November 2025, found that 27% of UK businesses had experienced some form of fraud, with 11% reporting fake invoice fraud specifically and 7% reporting mandate fraud – where a fraudster poses as a genuine supplier and asks for a change to bank details ahead of a routine payment. Both work the same way: a payment that looks entirely ordinary, sent to an account that isn’t.
The fix mirrors the property scam above – any request to change payment details, however official the email looks, should be verified by phone on a number you already hold on file, never one supplied in the request itself. Staff who handle payments benefit from knowing this is a standing policy, not an occasional suggestion, so a genuinely unusual request gets challenged rather than waved through under time pressure.
Clone firms: fraudsters posing as financial advisers
This one is particularly relevant to anyone looking for financial advice. The FCA’s own data shows 4,465 reports of scams impersonating genuine FCA-authorised firms in the first half of 2025 alone, with 480 confirmed victims – and two-thirds of those reports came from people aged 56 and over, the age group most likely to have meaningful savings or a pension pot to target. Fraudsters clone a real firm’s name, FCA number and website, then approach people directly, often unprompted.
The FCA’s guidance is worth taking literally: always check contact details against the FCA Register directly rather than trusting a number or email supplied by the firm that’s approached you, since a cloned firm will happily give you a number that reaches them, not the real business. As a matter of course, we’d always encourage anyone unsure whether they’re speaking to us to call our office on a number they’ve found independently, not one given to them over the phone or by email.
If a scam does get through
Since October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator’s mandatory reimbursement scheme has required banks to reimburse victims of APP fraud in most circumstances, up to a cap of £85,000. In the scheme’s first eighteen months, over 438,000 claims were made and more than £316 million reimbursed, an 88% reimbursement rate – a meaningful safety net, though it works best when reported quickly. Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve sent money to a fraudster, and report the scam to Action Fraud as well, since banks and investigators both rely on prompt reporting to act.
Crypto-specific investment scams are common enough to deserve their own separate look – we’ve covered how those work and what to watch for here, alongside the categories above.
If you’re ever unsure, ask us
We work with clients across Poole, Bournemouth and the wider Dorset area, and we’d always rather field a quick call to check something looks right than have a client lose money to a scam that could have been caught early. If you’re ever unsure about a call, email or payment request – whether it mentions us by name or not – get in touch and we’re happy to help you check it.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice, which should be based on your individual circumstances. The information is aimed at retail clients only. All information is correct at the time of writing (September 2026) and is subject to change in the future.
If you believe you have been the victim of fraud, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040.
Apex CB Financial Planning Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FCA number 507964. You can verify our details directly on the FCA Register at register.fca.org.uk.