The pandemic caused financial woes for many people across the UK with the loss of jobs and rising unemployment, but the last 18 months has also seen a surge in financial scams.
The Openwork survey of 2,000 Brits found 38% have been targeted by financial scammers in the past year.
According to Openwork, this is the equivalent of more than 20 million people that report a rise in financial scam attempts that they, or people they know, have faced in the past year.
International Adviser has contacted Openwork on the stat and also on the data from the previous years. Openwork said that “it is more an indicator of whether scams are on the rise as opposed to the actual number of scams taking place, and we feel that these figures indicate that this is rising”.
It also found just 4% believe the number of fraud attempts has dropped in the past year and 13% said they or people they know have lost money as a result of scams.
Anger
The increase in scam attempts is making people increasingly angry.
Some 45% are frustrated that authorities such as the police, the government and regulators appear to be doing nothing to stop scams, while 39% are outraged attempted crime goes unpunished.
The Openwork Partnership’s research found email is the way most people will be targeted by scammers – around 55% say they have received suspicious emails or know others who have been targeted.
However, 52% said they or people they know have been targeted on the phone and 44% by text. Some 7% have received scam letters.
Mike Morrow, chief commercial officer at The Openwork Partnership, said: “The pandemic has been a playground for financial scammers as more people have had to go online to carry out essential business.
“It is worrying to see the sheer scale of scamming with more than 20 million reporting an increase in attempts over the past year and sizeable numbers saying they or people they know have lost money. We would urge people to always take professional financial advice before making major decisions and always report attempted scams where possible.”
