Payment Fraud Statistics
Last updated: 2026-10-28 · 9 sourced statistics
Payment fraud is something most organizations now plan for rather than a rare event. In the Association for Financial Professionals' 2026 survey, 76% of US organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025, and 48% of those with revenue under $1 billion reported a financial loss. Reported losses keep rising: the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded $20.877 billion in 2025, up 26% on 2024, and UK Finance counted £1.28 billion of UK payment fraud losses. This page gathers the headline figures from those three primary sources, with each row linked to the page that states it. For business email compromise and fake supplier invoices specifically, see the invoice fraud statistics.
Key takeaways
- Three in four US organizations (76%) faced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025, and nearly half of those under $1 billion in revenue lost money (AFP, 2026).
- Only 17% of organizations use AI to combat payments fraud (AFP, 2026).
- Reported US cybercrime losses reached $20.877 billion in 2025, and cyber-enabled fraud accounted for 85% of them (FBI IC3).
- UK banks and card companies prevented £1.68 billion of unauthorised fraud in 2025, about 70p in every £1 attempted (UK Finance).
- In the UK, authorised push payment fraud losses rose 19% to £576.4 million in 2025 while unauthorised fraud losses fell 5% (UK Finance).
At a glance.
Every figure on this page in one table, each linked to its named source. Scroll down for the full context behind each number.
| Figure | What it measures | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 76% | 76% of US organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025, according to a January 2026 survey of 465 treasury practitioners. | AFP, 2026 Payments Fraud and Control Survey (press release, 14 April 2026) | 2026 |
| 48% | Financial losses from payments fraud were reported by 48% of organizations with revenue under $1 billion and 66% of those with revenue over $1 billion. | AFP, 2026 Payments Fraud and Control Survey (press release, 14 April 2026) | 2026 |
| 17% | Just 17% of organizations use AI to combat payments fraud. | AFP, 2026 Payments Fraud and Control Survey (press release, 14 April 2026) | 2026 |
| $20.877B | The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received 1,008,597 complaints reporting $20.877 billion in losses in 2025, a 26% increase in losses from 2024 ($16.6 billion). | FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 IC3 Annual Report (pages 4 and 6) | 2025 |
| 85% | Cyber-enabled fraud accounted for 452,868 complaints and $17.697 billion in losses in 2025: 45% of complaints but 85% of all reported losses. | FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 IC3 Annual Report (page 9) | 2025 |
| £1.28B | Criminals stole £1.28 billion through UK payment fraud in 2025, up 4%, across 4.06 million confirmed cases, up 11%. | UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (page 12) | 2026 |
| £576.4M | UK authorised push payment (APP) fraud losses rose 19% to £576.4 million in 2025, where victims are tricked into sending the payment themselves. | UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (pages 13 and 16) | 2026 |
| £703.4M | UK unauthorised fraud losses (cards, cheques and remote banking) fell 5% to £703.4 million in 2025, even as confirmed cases rose 11% to 3.81 million. | UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (page 20) | 2026 |
| £1.68B | UK banks and card companies prevented £1.68 billion of unauthorised fraud in 2025, equivalent to 70p in every £1 of attempted fraud. | UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (pages 5 and 20) | 2026 |
The statistics
76% of US organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025, according to a January 2026 survey of 465 treasury practitioners.
Source:AFP, 2026 Payments Fraud and Control Survey (press release, 14 April 2026)2026
Financial losses from payments fraud were reported by 48% of organizations with revenue under $1 billion and 66% of those with revenue over $1 billion.
Source:AFP, 2026 Payments Fraud and Control Survey (press release, 14 April 2026)2026
Just 17% of organizations use AI to combat payments fraud.
Source:AFP, 2026 Payments Fraud and Control Survey (press release, 14 April 2026)2026
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received 1,008,597 complaints reporting $20.877 billion in losses in 2025, a 26% increase in losses from 2024 ($16.6 billion).
Source:FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 IC3 Annual Report (pages 4 and 6)2025
Cyber-enabled fraud accounted for 452,868 complaints and $17.697 billion in losses in 2025: 45% of complaints but 85% of all reported losses.
Source:FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 IC3 Annual Report (page 9)2025
Criminals stole £1.28 billion through UK payment fraud in 2025, up 4%, across 4.06 million confirmed cases, up 11%.
UK authorised push payment (APP) fraud losses rose 19% to £576.4 million in 2025, where victims are tricked into sending the payment themselves.
Source:UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (pages 13 and 16)2026
UK unauthorised fraud losses (cards, cheques and remote banking) fell 5% to £703.4 million in 2025, even as confirmed cases rose 11% to 3.81 million.
UK banks and card companies prevented £1.68 billion of unauthorised fraud in 2025, equivalent to 70p in every £1 of attempted fraud.
Source:UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (pages 5 and 20)2026
When these numbers don't apply
Aggregate statistics hide a lot. Read these caveats before quoting a figure as if it describes your specific situation.
- The AFP survey covers 465 US treasury practitioners, mostly at larger organizations. Its rates describe organizations that faced attempts, not the share of payments that were fraudulent, and they will overstate what a typical sole trader sees.
- FBI IC3 figures are losses reported by complainants, most of them individuals. They include investment scams and tech support scams as well as business payment fraud, and many victims never report, so they are neither a complete count nor a business-only measure.
- UK Finance data comes from its member banks and card issuers and covers UK payment fraud only. Authorised push payment (APP) losses are before any reimbursement to victims.
- The Federal Reserve's most recent published estimate of fraud by payment type covers 2012 to 2016, so it is not used here; there is no current official US figure for fraud rates by payment method.
- Business email compromise and fake invoices are covered on the invoice fraud statistics page, and check volumes, check fraud reports and AFP's fraud rates by payment method on the check payment statistics page.
How we compiled this data
Reviewed on 2026-10-28. We kept only figures we could open on the publisher's own pages that day: the Association for Financial Professionals' press release for its 2026 Payments Fraud and Control Survey (14 April 2026), the FBI's 2025 IC3 Annual Report PDF and UK Finance's Annual Fraud Report 2026 PDF, with page numbers given in each source. Earlier rows that linked to the ic3.gov, fincen.gov and afponline.org homepages, an unsourced '$100K+ per incident' figure and the 2025 AFP edition were removed or replaced. Business email compromise figures were moved to the invoice fraud statistics page and check fraud to the check payment statistics page so the three pages do not repeat each other. On 2026-10-28 two more repeats were removed: the AFP fraud rates by payment method (checks 58%, ACH debits 30%, wires 25%), which stay on the check payment statistics page, and the IC3 Recovery Asset Team figure ($679 million frozen, a 58% success rate), which stays on the invoice fraud statistics page.
We hand-collected each figure from its original publisher rather than recycling secondary round-ups, cross-checked the headline numbers against the source documents in 2026-10-28, and link every statistic to the report it came from so you can verify it yourself. Where a publisher issues annual updates, we cite the report edition and flag the year inline.
Frequently asked questions
How common is payment fraud for businesses?
Very common for larger organizations. 76% of US organizations surveyed by the AFP experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025, and 48% of those under $1 billion in revenue reported a financial loss.
Which payment methods are most targeted by fraud?
In the AFP's 2026 survey, paper checks were the most targeted method for 2025, ahead of ACH debits and wire transfers; the shares by method are on the check payment statistics page. In the UK, unauthorised fraud on cards, cheques and remote banking cost £703.4 million in 2025 and authorised push payment fraud £576.4 million (UK Finance).
How much money is lost to payment fraud each year?
There is no single total. The FBI's IC3 recorded $20.877 billion in reported US cybercrime losses in 2025, most of it cyber-enabled fraud, and UK Finance counted £1.28 billion of UK payment fraud losses in 2025.
Can stolen payments be recovered?
Sometimes, if reported quickly. The FBI's 2025 recovery figures for fraudulent transfers are on the invoice fraud statistics page, because historically most of the cases were business email compromise. Stopping fraud before the money leaves also works: UK banks and card companies stopped £1.68 billion of unauthorised fraud in 2025. If you have sent money to a fraudster, contact your bank first, then report to IC3 or your national fraud authority.
What is authorised push payment fraud?
It is fraud where the victim is tricked into sending a payment themselves, for example to a fake supplier account. UK Finance reports APP losses rose 19% to £576.4 million in 2025.
Put these figures to use
- Accounts payable automation guide: Includes a section on the controls that stop AP fraud and duplicate payments.
- AP automation buyer's guide: A checklist of payment and fraud controls to ask vendors about.
- Payments hub: Choosing payment terms, scheduling reminders and working out late fees, with worked examples.
Related statistics
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