What it means: the Crime Survey for England and Wales asks adults about frauds and scams they have experienced in the year to March, whether or not they reported them. Bank and credit account fraud, such as a stolen card being used, made up 63% of incidents. Consumer and retail fraud covers things like goods paid for and never sent; advance fee fraud means being asked to pay upfront for a promised prize, loan or inheritance. In about a quarter of cases no money is lost, and much of what is taken is refunded by banks; the median loss counts money taken before any refund. The survey paused during Covid, so there are no figures for 2020-21 or 2021-22; the chart joins the years either side. No official statistics give a total for money lost to fraud by people or businesses; the most widely quoted total comes from the banking industry body UK Finance. A change of 5% or more on the year before counts.

Source: ONS, Crime in England and Wales, appendix table A1a; median loss from ONS, nature of crime: fraud and computer misuse, table 9a.