How does YOUR town stack up? Study reveals the UK’s mobile phone scam HOTSPOTS – so is your area on the list?
- A new report by Uswitch.com has revealed how fraud cases vary across Britain
- Cheshire tops the list, with 24.9 reports per 100,000 people from 2019 to 2022
It’s known for its cheese, silk and affluent footballers, and now Cheshire has another claim to fame, as it’s been named the mobile phone fraud hotspot of the UK.
A new report by Uswitch.com has revealed how fraud cases vary across Britain.
Cheshire tops the list, with 24.9 reports of mobile fraud per 100,000 people between 2019 and 2022.
This is closely followed by Greater London, Cambridgeshire, and Surrey, while North Yorkshire came in fifth place.
Uswitch.com mobile expert, Rehan Ali said: ‘Anyone can fall victim to fraudsters. Even if you know what to look for, you could still be caught out by sophisticated scams.’
A new report by Uswitch.com has revealed how fraud cases vary across Britain. Cheshire tops the list, with 24.9 reports of mobile fraud per 100,000 people between 2019 and 2022
It’s known for its cheese, silk and affluent footballers, and now Cheshire has another claim to fame, as it’s been named the mobile phone fraud hotspot of the UK
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In the study, Uswitch analysed Action Fraud data on the number of mobile phone fraud cases over the last four years.
While Cheshire topped the list, it was very closely followed by London (24.6 reports per 100,000 people), Cambridgeshire (24.2 reports per 100,000 people), Surrey (23.3 reports per 100,000 people) and North Yorkshire (23 reports per 100,000 people).
Uswitch also looked at the age groups most likely to be targeted by scammers.
You might think that it would be the older age groups who were most likely to fall victim to mobile phone fraud, but the results actually showed that it was those aged 50-59.
‘While this demographic makes up 14% of the total UK population, it made up 20% of all mobile fraud reports between 2019 and 2022,’ Uswitch said.
People aged 40-49 were the second most affected (18 per cent of reports) followed by those aged 60-69 (17 per cent of reports).
Overall, there was a 53 per cent drop in the number of reports regarding mobile phone fraud.
However, Uswitch warns that new, more sophisticated scams are coming out all the time.
You might think that it would be the older age groups who were most likely to fall victim to mobile phone fraud, but the results actually showed that it was those aged 50-59
Overall, there was a 53 per cent drop in the number of reports regarding mobile phone fraud. However, Uswitch warns that new, more sophisticated scams are coming out all the time (stock image)
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‘Crooks use a number of tricks to target your mobile, such as missed call scams, text scams, phone insurance scams and SIM-swap fraud,’ Mr Ali said.
‘SIM-swap fraud involves hackers gaining control of your mobile number to receive all texts and calls intended for you, including one-time security passcodes.
‘Although the research shows that mobile fraud cases fell by half last year, new scams are being seen all the time.’
If you’ve fallen victim to a scam, Mr Ali advises reporting it to the authorities immediately.
‘If you have transferred money to a scammer in the last 24 hours, or the scammer is in your area, call the police on 101,’ he said.
‘All scams should be reported to Action Fraud. You can do this online or by calling 0300 124 2040.
‘You should also report a scam to Citizens Advice, who will pass the details of the scam onto Trading Standards who will then choose whether to investigate the matter further.
‘Reporting a mobile phone scam is essential. You could help prevent other people from becoming a victim of fraud.
‘And remember, scams can happen to anyone. So please don’t be embarrassed if you fall victim to one’.
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