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A “devastating surge” in scams has bilked consumers out of more than £2.3 billion since last April, an increase of 33 percent during pandemic months, according to new findings by Which?
The report says that consumers in England, Wales, and North Ireland reported more than 413,000 cases of fraud to the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, Action Fraud, between April 2020 and March 2021. Which analysed the data and found the surprising jump in instances of fraud from previous years, up from just an 8 percent rise between 2019 and 2020, reports The Guardian.
Online shopping scams top the list, but other types of fraud are also up, including phone and text scams. Of particular concern are the jump in fake delivery scams.
In an earlier survey conducted by Which?, the advocacy group reported that more than 60 percent of the consumers it surveyed said they had been targeted by text message scams designed to trick targets into giving up personal details within the past year, according to The Guardian. Would-be scammers reportedly send consumers text messages claiming that they have missed a delivery window – demanding a fee for the parcel. Consumers who hand over their account information may find their finances drained as a result, Which? says.
Investment scams also drained the bank accounts of many UK consumers. Consumers reportedly lost £535 million, or an average of £25,496 each, to more than 20,000 to scammers touting fake investments.
UK consumers fell for fake cryptocurrency, pension, and celebrity endorsement schemes, reports The Guardian. In addition, some fell for internet scams after using a search engine that led them to believe they were putting their money into a real investment with returns.
Which? also reportedly found an increase in scammers targeting lovelorn UK consumers with a 40 percent increase in dating scams that dupe people into sending money to fake internet profiles.
“Tech giants, banks, telecoms providers, regulators and the government need to keep up with the evolving tactics of scammers,” said Which? in its report which also noted that the numbers likely “vastly underestimate” the actual number of scams bombarding UK consumers.
Many victims of fraud may not report the incidents. According to National Statistics crime data which counted more than 4 million cases of fraud in 2020, but UK consumers only reported about 10 percent of those crimes, says The Guardian.
Top Class Actions will continue to report on fraud, scams, and other issues to help keep consumers informed. In addition, UK consumers can sign up for Scam Alerts through Which?
Have you been the victim of a scam or fraud during the pandemic? Tell us what happened in the comment section below.
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