Nearly half of consumers see fraud as a cost of the digital economy

May 6, 2020

Worryingly, 42% of consumers in the UK consumers see fraud as a cost of living in an increasingly digital economy, according to a survey from card issuing platform Marqeta.

The company surveyed 4,000 consumers in the UK and US on their attitudes and experiences of financial fraud.

In the report, it claimed that 96% of consumers have concerns of fraud, with 36% stating they accept being a victim of fraudulent transactions is inevitable and 29% claiming the risk of fraud is a “fair trade-off” for the convenience of a seamless digital economy.

Of the UK respondents, 38% stated they had been a victim of financial fraud, with one-in-five falling victim within the past 12 months. The survey showed conflict between who consumers saw as responsible for preventing fraud. Around 57% believed its their own responsibility to protect themselves from fraud while 34% think it is the banks.

Consumers need to take more measures in protecting themselves online. More than half (52%) claim they could be better at protecting personal information and only 34% check online to see if their card details have been exposed during a major breach – in the US this stat is 60%.

Furthermore, 14% of respondents stated they lost their card at least once a year and 1-in-20 said they lose it every few months.

Marqeta managing director (Europe) Ian Johnson said, “We are living in very unusual times, with most of the country under state-imposed lockdown to some degree. Against this backdrop, fraudsters are unfortunately thriving, and we have seen numerous warnings and scams being conducted by people who want to take advantage of the situation. So people need to be on guard even more than ever.

“Yet this research shows that, while many people are taking steps to protect themselves, there is still a significant portion that are not. This may be because they have become resigned to the inevitability of fraud, but it may also be because they are often insulated from the consequences – as the survey also showed that 92% of people who had been defrauded had been able to get fraudulent transactions removed from their account. This means the banks are often carrying the financial burden of fraud.”