Brits lose £7.5bn to fraudsters every year as UK suffers ‘scamdemic’
THOUSANDS of people are stung by fraudsters every day in an unprecedented national “scamdemic”, a top law firm has said.
More than £7.5billion is lost to professional dupers each year with victims – who are tricked by fakers claiming to be trusted companies or relatives – often left homeless, depressed and out of work.
Martin Richardson, of Richardson Hartley Law’s National Fraud Helpline, said: “There’s a hidden fraud pandemic in the UK that’s being hugely under-estimated.
“We deal with people who have been left homeless, split up with their partners, been plunged into depression and forced to take on extra jobs.
“International criminals are harnessing the power of technology to commit increasingly sophisticated scams. With the advent of AI this is only going to get worse.
Changes earlier this month forced financiers to pay back people who are tricked into transferring money from their accounts within five days.
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But expert Martin said the measures may not go far enough as many victims lose more than the £85,000 threshold.
He added: “There’s a danger that this means some banks will cap the amount of compensation rather than compensate the full amount.”
Victims above the threshold include builder Colin Theobold, 61, who lost £95,000 after falling for an Instagram cryptocurrency scam.
He said: “Towards the end of each month I know I have to pay off the loans and it plays on my mind. I have panic attacks.”
“I was in a bad place at the time as I’d suffered from pneumonia for months was really ill and also got sepsis. Everything was on top of me.”
His bank, Revolut, rejected his claim saying they gave him sufficient scam warnings.
It comes after it was reported scammers were using AI bots to replicate children’s voices in a bid to trick parents into sending cash to fraud accounts.
How to stay safe from scammers
The Valuation Office Agency warns that callers could be scammers if they:
- Pressures you into making a decision
- Give you a short deadline, especially one you were not aware of
- Are threatening
- Asks for personal information like bank details
- Tell you to transfer money
- Say you have to pay to apply for or get a relief
- Say you have unclaimed credits
- Offer you a discount, refund, rebate or grant