Over £18m was stolen from Santander customers in the UK during the first three months of this year, according to the bank.
In its quarterly report on scams, the Santander said over £9m of the lost funds was through purchase scams, when fraudsters trick people into paying for non-existent or goods or services.
In the newly launched The Santander Quarterly Scamtracker, the bank revealed that a total of £18.4m was stolen from UK customers in the first quarter of the year.
It also warned customers about fake Sports Direct ads on social media, after 450 of its customers recently became victims of a scam using fake credentials for the sports retailer.
Santander said the amount stolen in the first quarter of this year was 13% less than the amount taken in the previous quarter, from October to December 2024.
Chris Ainsley, head of fraud risk management at Santander UK, said: “While a decrease in the amount stolen by scammers is welcome, £18m is a staggering amount to have been taken from our customers and placed into the criminal underworld.”
Scams evolve fast
He warned that scams evolve at “breakneck speed”, making it difficult for customers to keep abreast of threats.
“Providing customers with the information they need to protect themselves from these criminals is vital if we don’t want to see that £18m increase in the next Scamtracker stats,” said Ainsley.
The report said customers over 80 years old reported the biggest increase in scams, with an increase of 7% on the final three months of last year. This was driven by scammers impersonating banks.
In comparison, people aged between 18 and 34 saw an increase of 6% in stolen money, with scams involving the purchase of concert tickets the main bait used by criminals.
Santander’s new tracker will be released quarterly to help customers recognise and avoid scams.
Banks and tech firms, whose platforms are used by criminals to trick customers, are making efforts to combat online fraud. Last week, banks, including Santander, and tech firms announced they would cooperate on an initiative to share information on fraud to give them visibility of the attacks targeted at customers.
Intelligence-sharing pilots
The collaboration is part of Stop Scams UK’s intelligence-sharing pilots, which have brought together banks such as HSBC, NatWest and Santander with tech firms Amazon, Google and Meta.
Mobile telecommunications firm Three, BT, challenger bank Monzo, Lloyds Bank and tech giant Meta are among the members that published the Stop Scams UK joint statement.
According to the joint statement: “[This year] presents a unique opportunity for collaboration. Through Stop Scams UK, tech, telecoms companies and financial services providers have joined forces to share technology, data and intelligence to combat fraudsters on the platforms where they operate, helping to boost consumer confidence and promote economic growth.
“Following a successful proof of concept, we have developed a series of data and intelligence-sharing pilots that are proving we can get ahead of fraudsters,” it added. “Now marks the moment to accelerate, build and scale.”
Meanwhile, in its plan, A technology strategy to smash fraud, the fintech trade organisation is calling on the government to establish a national centre to help businesses across different sectors fight fraud through data sharing.