Our purpose is Helping Britain Prosper.
We have an important role to play in creating a more sustainable and inclusive future.
Lloyds Banking Group incorporates many household names.
As with all necessary struggles it’s often the actions of brilliant and tenacious individuals that create lasting change.
This report provides an update on our progress towards the Group's sustainability ambitions.
We put you first, so you can put our customers first.
Our charitable Foundations are celebrating 40 years of tackling social disadvantage and Helping Britain Prosper.
Disclosures relating to our strategic, financial, operational, environmental and social performance.
See all the key dates in the financial year.
Higher, more sustainable returns as we continue to Help Britain Prosper.
Digital twins are revolutionising industries across the globe, including financial services.
Build something that changes everything. Join us as we explore new ideas and technologies to reshape the world of finance.
Dan is a Lead Software Engineer in the Group's devices lab, with a lifelong career in app development and AI.
Lloyds Banking Group is best known for its portfolio of financial services brands.
Our purpose is Helping Britain Prosper.
We have an important role to play in creating a more sustainable and inclusive future.
Lloyds Banking Group incorporates many household names.
As with all necessary struggles it’s often the actions of brilliant and tenacious individuals that create lasting change.
This report provides an update on our progress towards the Group's sustainability ambitions.
We put you first, so you can put our customers first.
Our charitable Foundations are celebrating 40 years of tackling social disadvantage and Helping Britain Prosper.
Disclosures relating to our strategic, financial, operational, environmental and social performance.
See all the key dates in the financial year.
Higher, more sustainable returns as we continue to Help Britain Prosper.
Digital twins are revolutionising industries across the globe, including financial services.
Build something that changes everything. Join us as we explore new ideas and technologies to reshape the world of finance.
Dan is a Lead Software Engineer in the Group's devices lab, with a lifelong career in app development and AI.
Lloyds Banking Group is best known for its portfolio of financial services brands.
Fraud doesn’t only impact finances – like any other crime, it can have a knock-on effect on the victim’s mental well-being and sense of safety.
Suleman Lazarus, PhD & Liz Ziegler
Published on: 5 December 2024 | 4 min read
People who have been defrauded are victims of a crime. But for many, fraud comes with a stigma that other crimes don’t tend to carry. People are often embarrassed that they ‘fell for’ a scam and feel like they can’t talk about what happened to them for fear of being judged.
We’ve recently conducted a survey exploring the emotional impact of fraud and found that 23% of fraud victims don’t see themselves as victims of crime or are unsure despite having lost money to scammers. This raises important questions about how fraud is perceived and understood across different cultural contexts. In British society, fraud is often regarded as a less serious offence compared to violent or property-related crimes and suggests a collective indifference towards fraud.
But fraud can be incredibly violating, and regardless of whether victims get their money back, the emotional impact can be long lasting. Our survey found that 69% of victims reported a negative impact on their mental health, with 36% becoming less trusting of online platforms. 29% reported themselves as becoming more sceptical of people in their lives, and 20% of feeling more anxious as a result of their experiences.
Our recent survey isn’t the only data to demonstrate the mental health impacts of fraud. Numerous studies1 have supported our findings that scam victims are less trusting of online platforms, more sceptical of people both online and offline, and experience heightened anxiety levels.
Some victims even experience severe mental health issues, including depression, suicidal thoughts, and increased use of antidepressants, even if they get their money back. One described how their doctor had to double their antidepressant dose due to the psychological strain caused by the fraud they experienced. Given our findings that 69% of victims report mental health impacts after being victims of fraud, it’s not surprising that the emotional aftermath of online fraud can sometimes lead to severe psychological distress.
The stress of experiencing fraud can also impact victims’ physical health. Numerous studies show evidence of physical health deterioration as a result of fraud, with victims experiencing exacerbated physical conditions like headaches, Crohn’s disease, and fibromyalgia.
Helping customers keep their money safe is a top priority at Lloyds Banking Group. We invest tens of millions of pounds every year in the latest technology to protect our customers from fraud.
While all fraud is serious, specific types, such as romance scams, can come with a hefty emotional impact. The relatively low percentage of romance fraud victims is not surprising. It’s defined as the exploitation of intimate relationships by con artists for financial gain, and the relatively low number of people reporting it may be attributed to the stigma often associated with being a victim of such scams, as well as the deep psychological and emotional investment that victims make in romantic relationships.
Studies have noted that the negative psychological consequences for victims of romance scams may be particularly marked, given that they’re in the realm of love and friendship. Such consequences may not be incurred for victims of other forms of online fraud (e.g., purchase scams). Arguably, the intimacy between the victim and perpetrator of romance scams is chiefly accountable for the strong manifestation of psychological distress in victims.2
In contrast, online purchase scams are the most common type of scam. Unlike romance fraud, online purchase scams carry significantly less stigma, and victims are less likely to experience the social shame that often accompanies romantic deception. This contrast suggests that individuals are more comfortable reporting online purchase fraud, as these cases are less likely to result in feelings of embarrassment.
Policies regarding online purchase scams tend to be more straightforward than those related to romance fraud, where victims are sometimes portrayed as complicit or even willing participants. However, this is somewhat unfair and unhelpful. No one should ever feel ashamed of falling victim to a romance scam. Fraudsters play on emotions and know how to manipulate the people they’re defrauding. Reporting is key as it helps banks and law enforcement to tackle this type of fraud, offer support to victims and ensure that other customers are kept safe from this sort of scam.
For some, the impact of fraud can be long-lasting. 40% of fraud victims report feeling like they have changed as a person, with some even experiencing reputational damage that harms their professional standing.
Mark, whose IT business was compromised by ransomware, faced the unique embarrassment of being in the technology sector yet falling prey to cybercrime.
For victims like Matthew, who feared losing customers after his online retail business was hacked, fraud is not just a financial setback but a personal crisis affecting their reputation and livelihood.
David, another victim, reported sleepless nights after identity fraud, further highlighting how the emotional toll of fraud can extend beyond financial losses.
For Patricia, whose professional future was jeopardised by fraud, the change in her life was profound enough to request her name be removed from a book she had authored.
While financial losses are often the most obvious result of fraud, cases like these exemplify some of the long-term reputational harm, loss of trust, and emotional distress reported by many victims regardless of monetary loss and provide a clearer understanding of why so many respondents feel like they’ve changed since their experience with fraud.
The findings from our survey suggest significant implications for both crime prevention and victim support. If a large portion of victims do not perceive themselves as having been wronged, it undermines efforts to reduce fraud rates.
For policymakers and law enforcement agencies, these findings highlight the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to addressing societal attitudes toward fraud. Shifting public perceptions of fraud would not only encourage more victims to come forward but also help reduce the shame around fraud that allows it to thrive in both personal and professional spheres.
Public awareness campaigns and educational initiatives aimed at helping individuals recognise fraud and its consequences need to be restructured to combat this complacency, and a broader cultural shift is essential - fraud should be seen not merely as a financial inconvenience but as a serious crime with both emotional and economic ramifications.
What’s more, the survey data indicates that only 20% of victims accessed any form of victim support, and 14% don’t even see themselves as victims of a crime. This, in turn, increases the risk of repeat victimisation.
That’s why banks, including Lloyds Banking Group, invest hundreds of millions into protecting customers from fraud, using the latest technology to help customers avoid falling into these types of situations. It's also essential that banks provide guidance and support to customers too, helping people to recognise that it isn't just money they could lose, it could end up costing them a lot more.
For those who do sadly fall for a scam, it’s also important for the industry to signpost victims to rounded support, not just from the police but also charities who help victims cope with the emotional fallout. We partner with Victim Support, an independent charity dedicated to supporting victims of crime, making a huge difference to their recovery.
If you have been impacted, contact Victim Support for free, confidential support.
Liz is the Retail Bank Fraud & Financial Crime Director. She has held a number of senior roles in Lloyds Banking Group, mainly in the Retail Bank, across credit cards, customer services, transformation as well as integrations & divestments.
Suleman Lazarus, PhD, is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He is an Associate Editor for the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) journal “Digital Threats: Research and Practice.” Dr Lazarus’s research includes romance fraud, cryptocurrency, business email compromise, cybercrime academies, and cybercriminal networks, focusing on the relationship between cybercriminals, victims, and society.
He created the “Tripartite Cybercrime Framework”, categorising cybercrimes into socioeconomic, psychosocial, and geopolitical motivational groups. He has published numerous scholarly studies in academic journals such as Telematics and Informatics, Deviant Behavior, Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, and Current Issues in Criminal Justice.
References
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