The banking giant issued an alert on Thursday
Santander has issued an "incredibly important" warning to certain groups of people as it shared the UK regions which have been hit hardest by a "deluge" of scams. The banking giant said on Thursday that millions of pounds were stolen by fraudsters in just the first three months of 2025.
Santander said that, outside of London, Devon was the hardest hit financially by scammers in the first quarter of the year, with more than £1.3 million stolen, a massive 315% increase on the previous quarter. Second in the list was Derbyshire, which also saw £1.3 million stolen from customers, a staggering 467% increase on the previous quarter’s value. Kent, Hampshire and Greater Manchester were the next top countries ranked, respectively, by what Santander calls "scam value" when looking at January-March 2025. Chris Ainsley, Head of Fraud Risk Management at Santander UK said: “£5 million is a staggering amount to have been taken from our customers in just five UK regions and placed into the criminal underworld. "When we scale that up to all residents and all regions around the UK, it's quickly evident what a scourge on society fraud and scams still are. Scams are evolving at breakneck speed, so it remains incredibly important to stay vigilant for those tell-tale signs.” Purchase scams, where criminals trick buyers into paying for goods or services that don't exist, made up more than half of these frauds, with many people keen to secure Oasis, Sabrina Carpenter and Coldplay concert tickets preyed upon. People aged 18-34, and those aged 80 and over, are particularly impacted by fraud, Santander said, with a 6% and 7% increase in claims respectively. Purchase scams were the most commonly reported scam amount 18-34 year olds, while those aged 80+ were more likely to raise a claim following a scammer impersonating their bank.
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