Fraud rates surge after scammers swoop through lockdowns
Fraud rates jumped by over a quarter last year as scammers swooped on vulnerable Brits amid pandemic lockdowns, official figures revealed today.
Fraud offences rose by 25 per cent to 4.5m in the year to March 2021 on the back of a surge in so-called “advance fee fraud” and “consumer and retail fraud” online, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics released this morning.
The ONS said that a rise in cybercrime had been spurred by a shift in behaviour brought on by covid lockdowns.
“Fraud and computer misuse offences have increased substantially over the last two years; while many other types of crime have decreased, affected by periods of national lockdown during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,” the ONS said today.
Computer misuse increased by 89 per cent to 1.6 million offences compared with the year ending March 2020, driven by a surge in hacking offences.
Analysts have now warned of a continued rise in scams as criminals look to exploit vulnerable consumers as the cost of living rises.
“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,” said Myron Jobson, personal finance analyst at Interactive Investor.
“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.”