It’s that time of the year again – Black Friday fever is creeping up and our high street windows, inboxes and social feeds are filling up with the latest deals, which will appeal to the cost-conscious consumers; Barclays Consumer Spend data shows that two in five are cutting back on discretionary spending, as living costs continue to rise.

The seasonal sales – which have already started – are an exciting time for both shoppers and retailers. Black Friday has remained the busiest day for retail spending (excluding groceries) for five years running according to Barclays Consumer Spend data, and spending on the day itself showed considerable growth in 2023. I'm sure this year will be no exception.

Sadly, it won’t just be shoppers on the hunt this Black Friday. The sales typically see a surge in heartless criminals looking to scam unsuspecting shoppers with fake goods and deals. So, as the nation gets ready to shop, we are urging all consumers to be careful and take the time to do their research before they buy. Our latest Scams Bulletin offers consumers top tips on how to stay “scam smart” when shopping online. While it may sound obvious, the key takeaway for me is the importance of taking the time to stop and think.

At Barclays, our teams are braced for this retail milestone, and we are working hard to educate and protect our customers. But, despite all our efforts, the risk remains; our data shows that in November last year, purchase scams accounted for three in four scam claims. And while shoppers should be on guard at all times, the vast majority of these scams started on social media – in fact, over 70 per cent of all purchase scams originate on these platforms*.

Falling victim to a scam can be both financially and emotionally devastating. The banking industry plays an important role in protecting customers and reimbursing victims, but this is a clear reminder that banks can only go so far to stop the scammers. Social media firms must do more to protect consumers and put the necessary measures in place to take down fraudulent accounts.

The banks and consumer groups have been campaigning on this topic for some time. Just today, Which? has urged action from tech giants. Our research shows consumers agree, with 71 per cent wanting technology and social media firms to do more to prevent scams from occurring on their platforms**.

We recognise that individual organisations or sectors cannot take on these criminals on their own – all services who fraudsters exploit to target their victims have a crucial role to play.

This is why we support the Chancellor’s call in her Mansion House Speech for technology and telecommunications sectors to go further and faster to reduce the incidence and losses from fraud that are taking place on their platforms and networks. The combined efforts of government, law enforcement and all sectors is necessary to end the UK’s fraud epidemic, once and for all. And I look forward to the updates on progress and action taken by the Online and Telecommunication Charter signatories by March 2025.

It’s positive to see this progress, but we need to do more – and fast. We believe that data sharing between sectors should be mandated, rather than voluntary, and that legislation is required to ensure all players, especially the technology industry, do more to stop fraud and scams from happening in the first place.

I urge the Chancellor to nominate a government lead who will oversee and mandate this change, and drive increased, two-way data sharing between banks and big tech. We also support the creation of a shared reimbursement model, extending the responsibility to refund scam victims beyond the banks, and further incentivising technology and telecommunication companies to play a central role in fraud and scams prevention.

Fraud is the biggest crime this country faces. It accounts for over a third of all UK offences*** and UK Finance data shows that criminals stole over £1 billion from consumers in 2023. However the true impact of these crimes goes much deeper than just financial loss and, although harder to quantify, the emotional damage caused and the resulting boost to organised crime is no less significant.

We cannot underestimate the threat that these criminals pose to our country and must urgently stop these crimes at their source. I firmly believe that collaboration is our best strategy to win the fight against the fraudsters – their criminal networks may be strong, but if we can work together across industries with the Government leading the fight, we can be even stronger.

*Barclays business and personal current account customer scam data for Jan 2021-August 2024.

**The research was conducted by Censuswide in October 2024, among a sample of 2,008 nationally representative consumers aged 16+.

***England and Wales crime survey, 2024.