‘We need to update our idea of what a scam is’

Myron Jobson comments on new research from Citizens Advice.

• New research from Citizens Advice published today as part of its Scams Awareness campaign revealed that parcel delivery scams are by far the most common scam faced by the public so far this year.
• The charity’s research reveals that 40 million people have been targeted by scams already in 2023.
• Action Fraud revealed earlier in the week that it received 6,457 reports of holiday fraud in the last financial year, amounting to over £15 million lost and represents 41% year on year increase.

Commenting, Myron Jobson, Senior Personal Finance Analyst, interactive investor, says: “Crooks have gotten creative in how they go about their illegal activities, so we all need to update our idea of what a scam is. More and more people are being conned by standard fraud schemes, such as postage and impersonation scams, which are becoming increasingly difficult to recognise, because they constantly alter their disguises.

“Citizens Advice’s findings also suggests that cost-of-living crisis has become a new frontier for scammers, with fraudsters shrouding their nefarious schemes among correspondence relating to support available for energy bills.

“Financial scams are ever-evolving beasts that need taming. The hope is the Online Safety Bill will go some way in plugging the flood of financial fraud. There isn’t a silver-bullet solution, but we can all do some things to add a layer of protection against them.

“Unscrupulous criminals will stop at nothing to commit fraud. As such, we all need to remain on our guard against scams. In addition to the basics, which include not sharing your log-in 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.”