Photo by Alesia Kozik, Pexels
Cases of monetary fraud in the U.K. indicate that criminals are stealing more money per intrusion in 2022. This is occurring as reported crimes decreased by 21 percent. At the same time, the consequences of these incidents are higher with overall monetary loss increased by 67 percent.
The analysis comes from personal finance experts at money.co.uk, who have released the “2022 Fraud Report”. The report finds that in 2022 the average monthly lossesto fraudsters was over £333 millionfor those living in the U.K.
The new report has analysed police figures from between January and December 2022. This shows that within the last year, losses from fraud and cybercrime in the U.K. have significantly risen.
Who has been the most impacted by fraud and cybercrime?
The report finds that those aged 30-39 were targeted the most by fraud and cybercrimes in Q4 of 2022. This differs from 2021 where those aged 20-29 were targeted by cybercrime the most. Individuals younger than 60 were most commonly victims of online shopping and auctions fraud.
Furthermore, older age groups more commonly experienced crimes in the categories of computer software fraud, advance fee fraud and door to door sales fraud.
Computer software fraud involves criminals posing as legitimate software companies for example Microsoft, calling a person to tell them there is a problem with their computer in order to gain access to your private information and commit fraud.
Where have crimes increased the most quarter to quarter?
The report also looked into police force figures to understand which parts of the U.K. have experienced a significant change in crime figures. In Q3, Police Scotland, which covers the whole of Scotland, saw a significant rise of more than 138 percent, with over 4,000 cases reported at a total value of nearly £14 million, though the number dropped by 15 percent in Q4. Forces that saw big increases in Q4 included Northamptonshire (14 percent) and Gloucestershire (11 percent).
Scotland was not the only police that saw a drop in fraud in Q4 – 18 of the 45 mainland police forces saw drops of more than 5% from Q3, including City of London (31 percent), North Wales 13 percent) and Warwickshire (11 percent).
James Andrews, senior personal finance expert at money.co.uk, tells Digital Journal: “Cybercrimes cost Brits more than £4 billion last year, with losses rising yet again. This is a reminder for us to protect our data online and be more vigilant when making purchases online.”
Andrews pinpoints an area of concern: “Using a credit card to pay for purchases gives you extra protection when shopping online. If you pay for even part of an item costing between £100 and £30,000 using your credit card, then you get extra protection from your card provider under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.”
Andrews provides readers with six ways they can protect themselves against fraudsters online.
Website address
It is easy to miss even the smallest details when shopping online, but simply checking a site URL can save shoppers from scams. Fake or spammy sites attempt to look as convincing as possible to seem similar to a website that you may often use. Such methods include replacing a letter with a close looking one or missing out a letter that may be hard to spot.
Shoppers should also watch out for websites that are represented through ‘.net’ or ‘.org’. These aren’t usually used for online shopping- ‘.com’ or ‘.co.uk’ are much more common.
Website content
While there are often great opportunities for discounts online, some product descriptions can be misleading or very different from what is advertised. If you are purchasing from a website as opposed to a third-party site, browse around to discover if the site is genuine. Usually, websites with counterfeit products will look less professional, with poor quality and unoriginal photos.
Additionally, pay attention to how the site is written. If you see lots of spelling or grammatical errors, it’s likely it’s been put together in a hurry by someone looking to make a quick buck.
Secure your Wi-Fi network and keep devices up to date
Your wireless network is the hub that connects your devices. To protect it from hackers, you can encrypt it and change your default passwords regularly. Also, be sure to keep your browser, malware software and operating system up to date; you can turn on automatic updates to keep on top of this and benefit from the latest protections.
Payment methods
Most legitimate online retailers should allow you to pay by debit or credit card. You may also be offered the ability to pay using a known, reliable online method like PayPal. PayPal can be a good option as scammers will not be able to get hold of your bank details. Never pay by bank transfer when spending online, and especially not into someone’s bitcoin or other cryptocurrency wallets, and check out the returns policy as well.
Website details
A quick and simple way to check you are browsing on a safe site is to look next to the URL. Make sure you are using an https:// or secure server internet connection. If the website has a padlock next to it, the website is usually secure. However, there are occasions where spammers buy a padlock for their site, so ensure you check out other elements of the website too.
Protect your purchases
If you pay by credit card when shopping online, you have extra protection for items costing between £100 and £30,000, under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This means you can speak to your credit card company about getting a refund if you run into a problem with your purchase that has not been dealt with well by the retailer.
If you paid for your purchases using a debit card and then encounter problems, you might also be able to get help from your current account provider. You can do this by making a Chargeback claim. Policies such as the chargeback scheme, means you are covered if a purchase is in bad condition when it arrives, or doesn’t arrive at all.
Credit: Source link
