Britons have been warned to watch out for fraudsters after a bank said nearly £2million was lost to transfer scams by its customers over last year’s festive period.
Santander UK said £1,999,444 was reported as lost to authorised push payment (APP) cons between December 25, 2023 and January 1 this year.
The total includes an individual loss of more than £600,000 as part of an investment scam – the biggest amount lost by a customer in 2023.
Scammers may see the Christmas holidays as the perfect opportunity to strike, when some are distracted by festive activities. They may try to lure people looking to snap up sales bargains or concert tickets.
On Christmas Day last year, reports of online scams included clothes bought on Instagram, as well as football and Taylor Swift tickets purchased via Facebook Marketplace.
Britons have been warned to stay aware of fraudsters over the festive period (file photo)
Santander UK said that nearly £2million was reported as lost to authorised push payment (APP) cons between December 25, 2023 and January 1 this year
Impersonation scams may also catch people out when they are relaxing at home over the holidays.
On Boxing Day, several claims were made from customers contacted by scammers pretending to be banks.
And thieves didn’t rest on New Year’s Day either, with customers reporting ‘advance-fee’ scams, including a £1,700 payment made with the intention of securing a job offer with a ‘recruiter’ via WhatsApp.
Santander logged 596 cons over the festive week. Its behavioural scientist Pete Staffel said: ‘Scammers don’t take the holiday season off.’