Businesses in the United Kingdom lost more than £2.1 billion to cybercrime and fraud in 2022, according to a recent report by Money.co.uk, a business insurance company.

Money.co.uk revealed this in its first business fraud report, which was made available to Peoples Gazette on Tuesday.

The report examined police data on organisational fraud and cybercrime to determine what categories of crime are on the rise in the UK, where they are occurring, and what kind of organisations they are most hurting.

Banking fraud, which caused losses totaling more than £833 million over the last four quarters, was the most prevalent sort of fraud, according to the report.

In the first quarter of 2023, 5,055 crimes involving limited companies were reported, making them the top target of fraudsters and cybercriminals, according to the data.

Speaking on the report, James Andrew, an expert with Money.co.uk pointed out the need for organisations to invest in business insurance.

“Fraud and cybercrimes cost businesses more than £2.1 billion in the past year. This is a reminder for organisations to invest in business insurance. Commercial crime insurance specifically protects businesses against crimes including theft, identity fraud, malicious data damage, and securities fraud,” Mr Andrew said.

He further pointed out the need for  “business owners to make sure it covers not only crime by employees but also from third parties.”