TL;DR: FTC 2024 data shows consumers reported losing more money to scams paid via bank transfer or cryptocurrency than to every other payment method combined, and UK Finance's 2025 Annual Fraud Report puts total UK bank and payment fraud losses at roughly £1.17 billion for 2024.
FTC 2024 data shows consumers reported losing more money to scams paid via bank transfer or cryptocurrency than to every other payment method combined, and UK Finance's 2025 Annual Fraud Report puts total UK bank and payment fraud losses at roughly £1.17 billion for 2024.
What the Data Shows
Bank transfers are attractive to scammers because, unlike card payments, they usually can't be reversed once sent — treating any urgent request to wire money as suspicious by default is one of the most effective everyday protections available.
Why This Matters
Numbers like these are a reminder that this isn’t a rare event — it’s a routine risk. Checking whether your own information has already been exposed takes 30 seconds and costs nothing.
If this looks similar to something else you've seen, it's worth reading Business Email Compromise Statistics 2026.
This pattern shows up elsewhere too — see Cryptocurrency Scam Statistics 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do the numbers actually show?
FTC 2024 data shows consumers reported losing more money to scams paid via bank transfer or cryptocurrency than to every other payment method combined, and UK Finance's 2025 Annual Fraud Report puts total UK bank and payment fraud losses at roughly £1.17 billion for 2024.
What does this mean for you?
Bank transfers are attractive to scammers because, unlike card payments, they usually can't be reversed once sent — treating any urgent request to wire money as suspicious by default is one of the most effective everyday protections available.
Where does this data come from?
This data is drawn from FTC – 2024 Fraud Loss Report, a primary reporting source for fraud and identity theft data.