Number of reports about suspected fraud filed by banks set to hit one million a year for first time

The number of reports of suspected fraud lodged by banks will reach one million a year for the first time, the Mail reveals.

Fraud is one of the reasons why people or companies can have their accounts forcibly closed, also known as “unbanking.”

The latest figures, which the National Crime Agency will publish later this month, will fuel concerns about the scale of the debanking process following the Nigel Farage case. Coutts closed the former UKIP leader’s account due to his political views.

The increase in the number of ‘Suspicious Activity Reports’ (SARs) will raise fears that innocent customers could be wrongly labeled as criminals and locked out of the financial system.

In addition to fraud, customers are also stripped of their bank accounts for other reasons, including controversial opinions or because they are deemed not to be profitable enough.

The UK’s biggest banks will close the accounts of more than 140,000 businesses in 2023, MPs said last week.

Banks and building societies accounted for the majority of the 900,000 suspicious activity reports in 2022.

The figures about to be published are expected to reach a new high, up from 634,000 in 2017.

This is partly due to the sanctions imposed on Russia.

However, experts worry that banks are becoming easy to trigger.

Jason Hungerford of law firm Mayer Brown said: “Many banks are introducing SAR as a matter of course for sanctions when it may not be necessary.”