UK fintech customers, particularly of Revolut, were the most affected by a Georgia-based scam that cost consumers thousands, a recent investigation has revealed.
At least 1,000 people have lost money to a scam using phoney call centres and AI-powered deepfake marketing, according to findings published in the Guardian.
Of the top 10 financial institutions from which these scam victims were tricked into sending funds from, five were fintechs, including the second most common – Kroo with 50 victims – and the most common by a wide margin – Revolut with 119 victims.
Other fintechs on the list include Wise (25), Wirex (22) and Chase (14). The rest of the list was made up of traditional financial institutions. Among those, Barclays had the most victims at 40, while HSBC, NatWest, Lloyds and Halifax were also mentioned.
This paints an alarming picture for challenger financial institutions, which have come under scrutiny recently over the volume of scams affecting their customers.
Revolut, which secured a UK banking licence last July, was named in more fraud complaints than any other major British bank in a BBC investigation late last year.
Also last year, Starling Bank – which was not named in the recent scam investigation – was fined £29m from regulators for inadequate financial crime prevention.
Responding to the new data, a spokesperson for Revolut told UKTN it had ramped up its efforts to tackle financial crime in the past two years, pointing to £475m of “potential fraud losses” protected in 2023, rising to £730m in 2024.
The spokesperson also argued that urgent action was needed to prevent scams on social media, more so than challenger banks.
“We found that 60% of all reported scam cases originated on Meta owned platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp, yet these firms have no role in warning customers of such scams, nor reimbursing victims,” the spokesperson said.
“What is urgently needed is for Meta and other social media companies to commit to supporting victims of fraud in the same way financial institutions do to stop fraud at the source. Revolut takes steps and works hard to keep customers safe. So should social media platforms.”
Read more: ‘Their silence says it all’: Revolut demands Meta fraud liability
Revolut is Britain’s largest digital bank by customer base, with more than 50 million global users.
A Kroo Bank spokesperson admitted to UKTN that “digital banks are more likely to be targeted by scammers because of their online-only models and access to faster and more efficient payment systems”.
“Protecting customer funds is our top priority, however as scammers find new ways to reach people, and their methods evolve, tackling fraud requires industry-wide support.”
The spokesperson added: “No control we design will fully mitigate the risk of fraud, and we are working alongside other banks and law enforcement organisations to raise awareness of the problem.”
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