The true cost of fraud, and how the North East can stay one step ahead
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Emily Cox, Ambassador for the North at Lloyds Banking Group, discusses how fraud is impacting the region’s businesses – and what they can do to build resilience.
Fraud often hides in plain sight. It appears in an email that looks genuine, a payment request that seems routine, or a phone call that arrives just as a busy day reaches its peak. For many businesses in the North East, it is no longer something happening in the background – it has become a persistent operational concern that absorbs time, introduces risk and encourages companies to rethink how they work.
While it’s easy to think of fraud purely as a financial crime, its real impact reaches much further. The immediate loss of money is only the start. Scams undermine the trust businesses rely on to trade confidently, creating hesitation around digital processes, slowing down payments and causing teams to double – and triple-check instructions. Increasingly, fraud is influencing how firms transact, how quickly they adopt new technology and where they choose to invest.
In the North East, real-terms monetary losses through fraud and related crimes amounted to £3.7 million during the month of September alone, according to data from the North East Regional Economic Crime Coordination Centre (RECCC).
Businesses remain one of the main targets for increasingly sophisticated attacks such as invoice redirection, impersonation of senior staff and fraudulent changes to supplier details. These incidents disrupt cashflow, strain relationships and increase administrative burden. More importantly, they create a degree of caution that risks holding businesses back from the digital tools and platforms that could otherwise accelerate their growth.
This hesitation can have consequences. Businesses with greater confidence in digital systems adapt more easily when costs rise or conditions change. They negotiate better deals, use online financial tools to plan ahead and build the resilience that helps them navigate shocks.
Small businesses in particular feel the strain sharply. In the North East small firms are reportedly losing £110million a year to cyber hackers because they don’t have proper security measures. Fraud drains money that could have gone into hiring staff, upgrading technology or expanding operations. And beyond the financial blow, it creates a climate of caution around digital adoption that makes innovation feel more challenging than it should.
When fraud prompts companies to slow down or step back from digital adoption, it limits access to the very technologies that support innovation and competitiveness. Rebuilding that confidence is not only a security issue – it is becoming a key economic priority for the region.
Despite the pace at which criminals develop new tactics, everyday decisions still play a vital role in reducing risk. Taking extra moments to verify payment changes, confirming unexpected requests through a separate channel, and encouraging teams to pause before responding to pressured instructions all help create a strong first line of defence. Culture is as important as technology: when employees feel empowered to question something that doesn’t look right, the business becomes significantly harder to infiltrate.
At Lloyds, we’re investing heavily in fraud detection and support for businesses, providing real-time monitoring, clearer reporting routes and specialist guidance through local relationship teams These tools help firms operate securely and confidently, but technology alone is not enough. Increasing awareness across leadership teams, suppliers and employees, and sharing experiences openly, strengthens the region’s collective ability to stay ahead of evolving threats.
The North East has always been a region defined by resilience and reinvention. As the digital economy grows, ensuring that businesses feel secure in adopting new systems is essential to unlocking the opportunities ahead. Fraud may be evolving quickly, but by strengthening awareness, acting early and supporting one another, the region can stay one step ahead. In doing so, businesses not only protect themselves, but contribute to building a stronger, more confident and more digitally-enabled North East economy.