According to research conducted by This is Money, fraud and online crime is becoming more and more prevalent, with someone in the UK being scammed every two minutes on average, and losing significant amounts of money, or even their life savings. “Cold callers…fake websites, pension crooks and online bandits” were highlighted by their Money Mail column last month as being the main methods, with £250m stolen between January and June in the UK this year alone. Online fraud in particular is increasing at a concerning rate, rising by 59% compared to last year. Though these are fairly astonishing figures, the City of London Police have highlighted that “these figures are not a true reflection of the scale and nature of the problem across the UK” as methods are often insidious, difficult to trace and constantly changing.
Those who are victims of these crimes are encouraged to contact Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and internet crime reporting centre, who pass on all cases to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, who are overseen by the City of London Police. All reports will be given a police crime reference number, so they can be tracked and those reporting can refer to their case easily in all of their communication with the police. For many, online crimes are particularly distressing because they are committed at a distance, through a faceless website or scam email, and reporting it can seem like a lengthy, fruitless process, especially as new scams develop all the time and can disappear just as quickly. However, Steve Head, the City of London national co-ordinator for economic crime, has urged people to contact Action Fraud no matter what their doubts, as “it will allow local forces to track down more offenders”.
Some of the most common scams involve identity theft and ‘courier fraud’, which was called ‘prevalent and sophisticated’ by the Metropolitan Police in their 2012 guide to scams and fraud. Investment scams are also becoming more and more common, with scammers cold calling, convincing people they know of their previous investments, and impersonating reputable investment firms.
The FCA advise that those looking into investment opportunities, whether they’re a novice or not, should exercise caution if there is any pressure to invest, such as time-limited offers, the risk of losing capital is downplayed in any way, and if returns that are ‘too good to be true’ are promised or advertised. So-called ‘once in a lifetime’ investment opportunities that come from nowhere via a cold call or unsolicited email will more than likely be fraudulent.
You can check the safety of various investments and companies with the FCA’s Warning List, which is regularly updated with firms to avoid and scams to look out for. Before investing in anything, many put a lot of time and work into deciding which is the best option for them, and the FCA have many resources to make this process safer and easier, as well as regulating various financial services such as peer-to-peer lending.