TSB customer data has revealed that 45% of money lost through bank transfer fraud was the result of purchase scams.
The bank has released data from between the beginning of this year and the end of September, which showed customers lost £2.6m to online purchase fraud during the period. It also found that two-thirds of the scams came via Facebook.
Purchase fraud, which sees fake or non-existent goods advertised on online platforms, accounts for nearly half of the losses to transfer fraud suffered by TSB customers. The bank’s data found that Facebook accounted for 65% of scams, followed by TikTok (14%) and Snapchat (7%).
Because the payments are authorised by the customers, the banks cannot use security systems to block them, but can advise them. TSB is releasing the headline figures to warn customers and urge them to be “vigilant” as the festive season approaches.
“Alarmingly, purchase fraud is a growing problem – so we’re urging consumers to be especially careful where and who they shop with as we enter the busy sales, and Christmas shopping period,” said Richard Daniels, director of fraud prevention at TSB.
“The sheer scale of shopping scams shows that you just can’t fully trust a seller online – so be cautious and consider sticking to official sites, or marketplaces that offer a payment platform,” he added.
TSB revealed that vehicle and holiday/flights were the most scammed purchases, accounting for average losses of about £1,500 and £1,200, respectively.
Car parts, tickets, mobile phones, pets and accessories, and clothes also appeared high on TSB’s most-scammed list.
In separate polling of 2,000 Brits, commissioned by TSB and carried out by Censuswide, it was revealed that 33% of 2,000 UK citizens have lost money to online purchase scams. It also showed that 41% of British people are not confident they can distinguish between AI-generated images and genuine photographs when shopping online.
In September, National Trading Standards revealed that around half of UK citizens are finding it more difficult to tell genuine offers from scams as AI is increasingly being used to con people. According to the survey, 47% of UK adults struggle to tell what online offers are genuine or AI fakes. It also found that 24% feel “overwhelmed” by increasingly sophisticated scams.
The government agency launched its AI Scam Watchlist, “revealing the tools and techniques increasingly being used by criminals to supercharge their scams – from digital humans and cloned voices to deepfakes and AI-generated images – and setting out how consumers can protect themselves”.
In April 2025, banks and tech firms came together in an initiative to share information on fraud to give them visibility of attacks targeted at customers. 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 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,” it said.
