UK sees 63% rise in savings accounts used for fraud

Reports of savings accounts being used to receive fraudulent or disputed funds saw a significant increase in the UK last year, rising by 63% compared to a 12% increase in current accounts.

This data is sourced from the State of Fraud 2025: Banks and Building Societies report, which bases its findings on analysis from National SIRA, owned and operated by Synectics. National SIRA is recognised as the UK's largest source of evolving risk intelligence, contributing data from over 150 organisations including major banks and building societies.

The report indicates that, while current accounts still register the highest volume of laundering-related activity, the notable rise in savings account misuse suggests money launderers are spreading their resources across various financial products. This tactic is confirmed by the 'Misuse of facility' category, which remains the predominant fraud typology in the UK, followed closely by identity fraud.

Liese Rushton, Fraud Strategy Consultant at Synectics, commented on the trends: "Post-PSR Mandatory Reimbursement, mules and their herders faced a tactical tipping point. Knowing that account providers would likely scrutinise more transactions across more products (with many focusing on predicting risk using mule-specific AI algorithms), launderers appear to be dispersing their targets." She further noted the necessity of "long-term customer monitoring that leverages real-time fraud intelligence" to detect changes in customer behaviour.

The report also sheds light on the impact of identity fraud within the industry. It highlights that identity fraud has become the main 'growth fraud typology' in the UK, noting an increase in fraud filings due to discrepancies in addresses and the use of false identities, including synthetic IDs.

Chris Lewis, Head of Solutions at Synectics, explained the rise in identity fraud: "There's been a 25% increase in 'false identity' reports, this growth almost certainly linked to increased adoption of AI tools by fraudsters – tools which make light work of creating synthetic identities and manipulating genuine ones. We predicted the rise of synthetic IDs in 2023 and see their use in full force today."

Despite the increase in reported identity fraud activities, the report highlights that improved detection measures by banks and building societies are partly responsible for the uptick in reported cases.

Chris Lewis elaborated on the advancements in detection: "Encouragingly, banks and building societies are intercepting more identity fraud. However, as image and video manipulation advance, fraudsters will keep investing in these tactics. Organisations must stay vigilant, adopting ID verification that moves from 2+2 checks to using diverse digital evidence to confirm someone is and lives where claimed."

The report additionally examines other forms of fraud such as credit card, application, and mortgage fraud. Analysed data suggests that the cost-of-living crisis remains a contributing factor to fraud rates in the UK, with trends showing increased address changes and inconsistent employment details in application fraud instances.

Jordan Roberts, Fraud Strategy Consultant at Synectics, observed, "pressures connected to the cost-of-living crisis may potentially influence an individual's decisions regarding fraud and financial risk taking," further noting this is evident in the recent findings.