Over 40 million Britons have been targeted by scammers this year, with losses per person higher than in other major Western economies.
Claims.co.uk has named the UK ‘fraud capital of the world’, and total losses have crept to almost £3bn a year nationally.
Claims.co.uk examined official ONS survey data from 33,735 people over the age of 16, to uncover the most common characteristics of fraud and computer misuse victims in the UK.
Contrary to popular belief that the elderly are more vulnerable to scams, Claims.co.uk says Gen X are the most reckless, with those aged between 45 to 54 years old (7.7 per cent) falling victim to fraud the most! This is 2.2 per cent more than those between 65 to 74 years old (5.5 per cent).
Those with higher social status are more likely to be the target of scammers, with 8.1 per cent of victims being professionals or those at managerial levels. Additionally, avid pub goers as well as people who are out of home for the longest hours (7 hours or more) are the most susceptible to fraud (7.4 per cent) than those who leave home for only less than three hours per day (5.6 per cent).
The most common amount of financial loss suffered by victims is revealed to be around £100 to £249 (21.8 per cent), while the biggest loss recorded (£40,000 or more) was only suffered by 0.5 per cent of those scammed.
Claims.co.uk also says that fraudsters seem to target single adults with children (8.9 per cent) the most, with adults without kids (6.4 per cent) being the least likely to get scammed. The wealthy are also popular targets with 9.1 per cent of households earning £52,000 or more falling victim to fraud.
Data also shows that South East residents are the most at risk of fraud, with 8.8 per cent of respondents admitting to being scammed. This is 5 per cent more than in the North East (3.8 per cent) and 3.4 per cent more than in Wales (5.4 per cent).
The younger generation is found to be the most common victims of computer misuse, with online users aged between 25 to 34 years old (1.9 per cent) being the most susceptible to cyber crime. Moreover, data also reveals that laptops (53.4 per cent) are the most popular device targeted by cybercriminals, followed by desktop computers (31.9 per cent) and mobile phones (7.9 per cent).
