Fraudsters scheme amid the cost-of-living crisis

Conmen are trying to take advantage of people struggling as prices soar, as scam offences continues to mushroom.

• New statistics published today by the Office for National Statistics revealed fraud offences increased by 25% (to 4.5 million offences) compared with the year ending March 2020, driven by large increases in "advance fee fraud" and "consumer and retail fraud."
• The proportion of fraud incidents that were cyber-related increased to 61% from 53% in the year ending March 2020; this suggests that much of the increase in fraud offences was because of a rise in cyber-related fraud and may be related to behavioural changes during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and increased online activity.

Commenting, Myron Jobson, Senior Personal Finance Analyst, interactive investor, says: “Fraudsters have continued to wreak havoc since financial scams mushroomed at the height of the pandemic. Fraud offences are up 25% to 4.5 million offences in the year ending March 2022, compared with the year ending March 2020. Scammers worryingly found greater success in persuading victims to make advance or upfront payments for goods or services or for financial gains that do not materialise. They also found greater success in swindling online shoppers.

“Scammers have taken advantage of consumers' fears and shrouding their nefarious schemes among correspondence by the government and legitimate organisations relating to coronavirus measures. The worry is history could be repeating itself amid the biggest fall in living standards in generations. Fraudsters are trying to take advantage of people struggling as prices soar. There have been countless reports of criminals sending texts, claiming to be from the government or Ofgem given the cost-of-living payments are due to be applied to energy bill accounts.

“The true scale of people falling victim to fraud is difficult to determine. Although total fraud offences referred to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau increased, those referred by Action Fraud - the public-facing national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre - decreased. This could suggest that some victims are embarrassed about reporting a scam.

“We often overestimate our ability to spot a financial scam when, in reality, even those who consider themselves financially savvy aren’t immune to increasingly sophisticated scams. Falling victim to fraud can lead to financial and emotional harm, with often people who can often least afford it losing money.

“We all need to remain on our guard against scams. In addition to the basics, which include not sharing your login credentials and ensuring that online transactions are made from secure and trusted websites, be mindful of who you disclose personal information to and remember that if a proposition seems too good to be true then it probably is.”