Data from the UK financial trade body UK Finance has revealed that a total of £503.4 million was stolen by criminals through authorised and unauthorised fraud in the first six months of 2018.

There were 1,036,376 reported cases of financial fraud in the first half, a rise of 10 per cent compared to the year before.

There were 1,350 investment scams with £20.9m stolen and the average loss per client was £15,305.

There were a total of 3,866 reported cases of impersonation scams alone in the first six months of 2018.

Some 571 people lost money due to ‘romance’ fraud - being convinced to transfer money online to someone claiming to offer a romantic relationship.

There 2,856 cases of bogus invoice fraud with companies losing a total of £49.3m and an average loss per case of £17,262.

There were 347 cases of CEO fraud (someone impersonating the CEO to authorise a financial transaction) with a total of £8m lost and an average loss of £23,055 per case.

Source: UK Finance

While the cost of scams is rising so is fraud prevention improving, says UK Finance. It says in the first half the finance sector believes it prevented £705.7 million of unauthorised fraud, equivalent to £2 in every £3 of attempted unauthorised fraud.

Purchase scams were the most prevalent authorised push payment (APP) scam in the first half of 2018, accounting for almost two thirds of reported APP cases.

In these scams the victim pays in advance for a product or service, such as a car, electronics or a holiday rental, which is never received or does not exist. It often takes place online, through auction websites or social media.

Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, said: “Fraud and scams pose a major threat to our country. The criminals behind it target their victims indiscriminately and the proceeds go on to fund terrorism, people smuggling and drug trafficking, whether or not the individual is refunded."

“The finance industry is committed to fighting back, investing millions in security systems and cyber defences to protect customers.”

UK Finance points out that while the number of payment scams has grown the number was small against a backdrop of over 4.2 billion bank transfers made in 2017.