Brits increasingly at risk of scams, survey shows

Those in debt may find their financial situations worsened because of scammers, as new research has revealed that on and offline fraud is increasingly becoming a problem.

According to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), approximately one person in 11 has been affected by scams, with almost a third of those losing money.

And people could be advised to exercise greater caution where email is concerned, as the report revealed that this is the most-used approach for criminals, with 73 per cent of UK adults receiving a scam missive in this manner in the last 12 months.

Text message and letter scams were also used, while social networking appeared to be an emerging technique, with nine per cent admitting to being targeted over such sites.

Chief executive at the OFT John Fingleton said: “Scammers are using evermore sophisticated and cunning tactics to dupe people out of their cash.”

Meanwhile, Which? recently investigated the practices of gold-buying firms advertising on TV and found that those looking to sell such items can get better value elsewhere.

By Sarah Adie