Expert Witness Journal Issue 68 August 2026 - Flipbook - Page 107
Expert comment: what the
latest fraud headlines mean for
consumers, platforms, businesses
and 昀椀nancial institutions
by Jane Anderson, Legal Director & Garon Anthony, Partner at Irwin Mitchell LLP.
Lloyds originated on Meta platforms, and that the
average claim for those trying to recover money has
increased to more than £500.
Recent headlines point to a fraud landscape that is
both expanding and changing shape.
One set of 昀椀gures, reported by the Express1, suggests
that identity fraud in the UK rose by 38.7% between
2017 and 2025, reaching 242,003 reported cases.
Taken together, these reports reinforce a point that
banks, payment 昀椀rms, businesses and consumers
increasingly recognise: fraud is no longer a narrow
issue con昀椀ned to one point in the transaction
chain. It is embedded across the way people shop,
communicate, insure, borrow and manage their
identity online, while the 昀椀nancial and operational
consequences often land most immediately on
昀椀nancial institutions asked to detect, prevent,
investigate and reimburse losses.
The same reporting says plastic card fraud remains
the most common category, accounting for 87,818
cases, while insurance fraud recorded the sharpest
increase, rising by 290.5% to 16,461 cases.
A separate report, covered by The Independent2, says
that more than two-thirds of fraud cases reported to
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