Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and the weeks surrounding them, present huge opportunities for scammers to target people rushing to snap up bargains online. Last year, between November 2023 and January 2024, more than £11.5 million was lost to scams in the UK, with victims losing an average of £695 each.
Expert industry overview
Scams such as Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud are increasingly prevalent because fraudsters exploit trust between victims and entities posing as legitimate service providers, making them difficult to detect.
The most wonderful time of the year – for fraudsters
This holiday season is a hotspot for scams, and shoppers should be wary; but the worrying growth of scams and fraud in the UK and further afield isn’t limited to this period. Fraud is growing worldwide – and thanks to AI, deepfakes, and the growing sophistication of fraud networks, it’s now more of a threat than ever before.
Sumsub’s Identity Fraud Report 2024 shows that:
- Deepfake fraud increased by 118% in 2024 from last year, rising to 300% globally
- One in every 100 online platforms users was a member of a fraud network in 2024
- On average, businesses lost approximately £240,000 or $300,000 per fraud event in 2024.
- With £800 or $1,000 and one month, a fraud group can inflict losses of up to £2 million or $2.5 million thanks to Fraud-as-a-Service (FaaS) and AI.
- 67% of companies reported an increase in fraud.
- 79% of consumers feel that both governments and businesses should share responsibility for protecting users from fraud.
The full Identity Fraud Report and useful infographics are linked here. Please see Sumsub’s tips for spotting deepfakes below the quotes.
Martin ten Houten, VP of Business Development, Europe: “This holiday season is a hotspot for scams, and shoppers should be aware; but the worrying growth of scams and fraud in the UK and further afield isn’t limited to this period. Fraud is growing worldwide – and thanks to AI, deepfakes, and the growing sophistication of fraud networks, it’s now more of a threat than ever before.”
Vyacheslav Zholudev, CTO at Sumsub, comments: “Fraudsters are not only leveraging cutting-edge technologies like AI and deepfakes but are also exploiting gaps in identity verification systems that were once considered robust. The accessibility of tools that automate fraud, combined with the increasingly blurred lines between legitimate and fraudulent identities, means that businesses must move beyond traditional KYC measures. To stay ahead, we need to integrate more dynamic, real-time intelligence, continually adapting to the ever-evolving fraud landscape.”
Martin ten Houten, VP of Business Development, Europe, and Ilya Brovin, CGO, are also available if you’d like to learn more.
The report’s data sources include analysis of 3m+ real-life fraud attempts and the Sumsub Fraud Exposure Survey, which gathers insights from over 1,000+ end-users and 200+ fraud & risk professionals.
How to spot deepfakes:
- Unnatural and uneven movement, particularly in the hands or lips.
- Changes in lighting, unnatural textures, or digital artefacts in the background or skin tones.
- Unusual blinking patterns and poor synchronisation of lip movements and throat or Adam’s Apple with speech.
To avoid manipulation of your image for potential fraud attempts:
- Be cautious about sharing personal photos online. You can limit the number of personal photos you share on social media, or adjust privacy settings to restrict who can access your photos
- Avoid sharing high-resolution, unedited photos that could be easily manipulated
- Thoroughly read the terms and conditions of all AI apps, ensuring they cannot use your photos without your permission
- Utilise smart technology. While AI may pose danger, it’s also a remedy. AI can be used to detect certain visual or audio artefacts in deepfakes that are absent in authentic media.
