The public is being warned to beware of impersonation scams as new figures show there were 45,367 cases of this type of fraud in 2022, with losses totalling £177.6m.
- There were 45,367 cases of impersonation scams in 2022 costing at total of £177.6m, new UK Finance figures show.
- Only 51 per cent of people always check whether a request for money or personal information is legitimate.
- Younger adults are particularly at risk, with only 38 per cent of 18-34 year olds always checking.
Impersonation scams take place when a criminal contacts you pretending to be a trusted organisation such as a bank, the police, a delivery or utility company, or even a friend or family member. The scams can be very sophisticated and often start with a call, text, email or direct message with an urgent request for money or personal and financial information.
Research found that only 51 per cent of people always check if a request for money or personal information is legitimate before responding.
However, the survey also found that of those that had been approached, an alarming one in five (21 per cent) of people who had responded to communications from a range of organisations (including delivery companies, banks, online retailers, energy companies and the police) said that they later believed to be fraudulent.
The research found that younger adults are particularly at risk.
Just 38 per cent of 18-34 year olds always check a request for their money or information is genuine – the lowest of any age group. This age group was also the most likely (39 per cent) to believe that they had been contacted by a criminal after they had responded to an initial request for information from what they thought was a trusted organisation.
