The UK Marketplace Fraud Index 2026
Platform breakdown, payment-method analysis, recovery rates and bank-blocking data — every figure cited to its primary source. Published under CC-BY 4.0.
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UK marketplace fraud in 2026 is defined by three numbers: £160,000 stolen on Facebook Marketplace every day (TSB), a 73% platform concentration on a single app, and an 18% victim recovery rate (Cifas). This index gathers the complete, cited data across platforms, payment methods, demographics and bank-side responses.
Executive summary — key findings at a glance
- Facebook Marketplace accounts for 73% of all UK purchase fraud by platform origin (TSB, 2025).
- £160,000 is stolen on Facebook Marketplace every day in the UK — £58 million per year on one platform alone (TSB).
- £1.17 billion was lost to UK payment fraud in 2023, of which £459.7 million was authorised push payment fraud (UK Finance Annual Fraud Report 2024).
- Only 18% of UK fraud victims fully recover their losses (Cifas). APP reimbursement rules (October 2024) improve the outlook, but recovery is not automatic.
- Santander UK blocked or challenged over 1,800 Faster Payments to suspected Facebook Marketplace sellers in 2025.
- 50,000+ Vinted accounts were banned for fraud-related activity in 2024; 89% of affected sellers never recover their ratings (Cifas).
- 37% of UK adults have been scammed on an online marketplace at least once (Experian).
1 — What are the headline UK marketplace fraud losses in 2026?
UK marketplace fraud losses are measured in billions, not millions. UK Finance confirmed £1.17 billion lost to payment fraud in 2023 — purchase scams represented the highest APP fraud category by case volume.
- £160,000 stolen on Facebook Marketplace every day
- TSB’s internal purchase-fraud caseload, extrapolated across the UK Faster Payments population. At this rate, Facebook Marketplace losses alone exceed £58 million per year — from a single consumer platform. Source: TSB(2025)
- £1.17 billion lost to UK payment fraud in 2023
- Combined unauthorised fraud (£708.7m) and authorised push payment fraud (£459.7m) across UK retail banking. Purchase scams were the largest APP subcategory by volume. Source: UK Finance Annual Fraud Report 2024(UK Finance, 2024)
- £459.7 million lost to APP fraud in 2023
- Authorised push payment fraud covers marketplace purchase scams, romance fraud, investment fraud and impersonation. Purchase scams dominate by case count. Source: UK Finance Annual Fraud Report 2024(UK Finance, 2024)
- Highest fraud case volume ever recorded by Cifas in 2023–2024
- Cifas’s National Fraud Database hit its highest annual case volume ever in 2023, with the upward trend continuing into 2024. Source: Cifas Fraudscape 2024(Cifas, 2024)
2 — How does UK marketplace fraud break down by platform?
Facebook Marketplace accounts for 73% of UK purchase fraud by platform origin (TSB, 2025). Vinted is second; Depop, Gumtree and eBay follow. The concentration reflects Facebook Marketplace’s scale — over 10 million UK monthly users — and its frictionless stranger-to-stranger design.
Platform risk comparison
| Platform | Share of UK purchase fraud | Primary scam type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facebook Marketplace | 73% of UK purchase fraud cases | Deposit-before-viewing, fake listings, impersonation | TSB, 2025 |
| Vinted | Second by complaint volume; 50,000+ bans in 2024 | Fake-postage-label, counterfeit goods, fake tracking | Cifas / Action Fraud |
| Depop | Top second-hand fraud destination (Starling warning) | Fake listings, non-delivery, counterfeit items | Starling Bank |
| Gumtree | Prominently cited in Which? 2024 investigation | Deposit scams, fake vehicle ads, non-delivery | Which?, 2024 |
| eBay local pickup | Cited across Action Fraud and Norton guidance | Overpayment fraud, fake-escrow, chargeback fraud | Norton UK / Action Fraud |
- 73% of UK purchase fraud starts on Facebook Marketplace
- Across TSB’s entire purchase-fraud caseload, almost three-quarters of cases were traced to a Facebook Marketplace listing. No other consumer platform comes close in TSB’s dataset. Source: TSB(2025)
- 50,000+ Vinted accounts banned for fraud-related activity in 2024
- Vinted’s 2024 trust-and-safety enforcement removed more than 50,000 accounts. 89% of those sellers never recovered their ratings (Cifas). Source: Cifas / Vinted Trust & Safety(2024)
- Vinted and Depop are Starling Bank’s highest-risk second-hand platforms
- Starling Bank’s consumer fraud guidance singles out Vinted and Depop as the highest-risk platforms its UK customers transact on. Source: Starling Bank
3 — Which payment methods drive the highest UK marketplace fraud losses?
Faster Payments bank transfer and PayPal Friends & Family together account for the overwhelming majority of irrecoverable UK marketplace fraud losses — both because they are irreversible and because they carry no buyer protection.
Payment method risk matrix
| Payment method | Recall possible? | Buyer protection? | APP reimbursement eligible? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faster Payments (bank transfer) | No — irrevocable at clearance | Via PSR APP rules Oct 2024 (conditional) | Yes — up to £85,000 |
| PayPal Friends & Family | No | None (explicitly excluded) | No |
| PayPal Goods & Services | Via dispute process | Yes — buyer protection applies | Partial |
| PIN Pickup (SilentID escrow) | Held in escrow until confirmed handover | Full escrow protection | N/A — no fraud exposure |
| Cash (in-person) | N/A | None | No |
| Credit card | Via Section 75 | Yes — S75 over £100 | N/A |
4 — Who is most at risk from UK marketplace fraud?
37% of UK adults have been scammed on an online marketplace (Experian) and 1 in 3 UK buyers report being scammed on a second-hand platform (Which?, 2024). Buyers bear the majority of losses, but 22% of UK marketplace sellers also report being victimised.
- 37% of UK adults have been scammed on an online marketplace
- Experian UK consumer-survey data on lifetime exposure across UK adults who regularly use online marketplaces. Source: Experian
- 1 in 3 UK buyers scammed on second-hand marketplaces
- Which? Money’s 2024 investigation surveying UK adults who had made a purchase through a second-hand marketplace in the prior 12 months. Source: Which?(Which?, 2024)
- 22% of UK marketplace sellers report being scammed
- More than one in five UK sellers say a buyer has defrauded them — through chargebacks, fake-collection claims, or counterfeit-item return fraud. Source: Which?(Which?, 2024)
5 — What are the actual recovery rates for UK marketplace fraud victims?
18% of UK fraud victims fully recover their money (Cifas). The October 2024 mandatory APP reimbursement rules from the Payment Systems Regulator are a significant improvement — up to £85,000 per claim — but banks may reject claims where the consumer ignored a specific warning.
- 18% of UK fraud victims fully recover their money
- The most widely cited UK fraud-recovery statistic. Referenced by TSB, Santander, the FCA and Parliament in debates on mandatory reimbursement. Source: Cifas
- £85,000 maximum APP reimbursement (October 2024)
- Since 7 October 2024, UK Faster Payments and CHAPS providers must reimburse eligible APP-fraud victims up to £85,000, split 50:50 between sending and receiving payment service providers. Marketplace purchase fraud is in scope, subject to the consumer-standard-of-caution exception. Source: Payment Systems Regulator(PSR, 7 October 2024)
- Faster Payments cannot be recalled once sent
- The UK Faster Payments scheme settles in under two seconds. Once funds clear into a beneficiary account, the sending bank cannot unilaterally reverse the payment. Source: Pay.UK
6 — How are UK banks responding to marketplace fraud?
UK retail banks have shifted from passive monitoring to active payment blocking. Santander UK protected over 1,800 customers from suspected Facebook Marketplace fraud in 2025. TSB has been the most vocal bank, publishing the £160,000-per-day figure cited by national media and Parliament.
- 1,800+ Santander customers protected from Facebook Marketplace fraud in 2025
- Santander’s automated payment-screening system blocked or challenged Faster Payments to suspected Facebook Marketplace sellers, protecting more than 1,800 customers in 2025. Source: Santander UK(Santander UK, 2025)
- TSB publishes the £160,000/day figure as a deliberate public-pressure tactic
- TSB intentionally publishes precise daily loss figures to pressure Meta into introducing identity-verification requirements for marketplace sellers. Source: TSB
7 — Summary statistics at a glance
8 — Methodology and data sourcing
Every figure in this index is drawn from a named primary source — a published report, press release or consumer survey from TSB, UK Finance, Cifas, Action Fraud, Which?, Experian, Santander or the Payment Systems Regulator. This index does not commission proprietary surveys; it is a curated, cited compilation of publicly available UK fraud data.
Published under CC-BY 4.0. Re-use freely with attribution to silentid.co.uk/research/uk-marketplace-fraud-index-2026.
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Research papers
- PIN Pickup vs Bank Transfer: Why UK Marketplace Pickups Need Escrow
- How UK Banks Started Blocking Marketplace Fraud (2025–2026)
- Why 50,000 Vinted Bans Should Worry Every UK Reseller
- A Taxonomy of UK Marketplace Scam Patterns 2026
- UK Marketplace Fraud Statistics 2026 — Sourced Data
Guides
Frequently asked questions
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Reviewed by the SilentID editorial team. We update each guide quarterly with new UK fraud data.