Online scams in the United Kingdom (UK) - statistics & facts
Online scams are undoubtedly among the most disturbing experiences on the internet. Spam and phishing, business e-mail compromise, banking fraud, and romance scams - these are well-known terms to anyone who is following the news, especially in recent years.
It is not too difficult to convince the victims to financially support them, as 29 percent of surveyed adults in the United Kingdom said they would offer financial help to the romantic partner they met less than six months ago. Between March and August 2024, the estimated amount of financial loss of Santander UK customers through romance scams, was over 3.8 million GB pounds.
Scammers usually reason their actions by saying that scamming is the only way for them to make money. But most of the money stolen in scams goes to the heads of the criminal organizations. So, such excuses, are simply irrelevant. In most cases, online scams target the most vulnerable and kind individuals, who are ready to step up and show support in any way possible. And many people think they could never be scammed. The reality is, everybody who uses the internet or other communication tools, could potentially be scammed. The only way to stay safe online is to continue learning about the possible threats and interact only with trustworthy sources.
This is suspicious, right?
Many online users face the trouble of telling what is real on the internet and what is not. But most users in the United Kingdom can spot suspicious content based on poorly written content full of grammatical errors. For many, the good indication that something is fishy, is receiving communication requests from numbers or accounts they do not know. However, not many online users in the UK report suspicious encounters. More often than not, they only block the account or ignore it.Online ads and scams
One of the most popular ways for scammers to reach more victims is to place online advertisements. Either advertising a product with a suspiciously good price or sending false alerts about the security of victims’ devices – scammers use all possibilities to get people to contact them. Around 10 percent of adults in the United Kingdom said in a survey that they have definitely encountered online ads that contained perceived illegal activity, such as fraud or cybercrime. And a further 27 percent said they had possibly seen such ads. Furthermore, younger individuals were more likely to spot online ads with illegal content.Online love
Online dating is very common in worldwide, as well as in the United Kingdom. But not everyone has a good experience with online dating services. It is a common practice for scammers to target people of middle age or seniors who, in hope to find a companion, fall for the thoughtful person the scammer pretends to be. Having gathered enough information about the victim through social engineering techniques, they create a strong bid with victims. And once the connection is created, and they have earned the victim’s trust, they proceed to ask for money for many different excuses – they are stuck at the airport, their relative is sick, they don’t have access to their bank account. These are only the small part of the reasons scammers mention.It is not too difficult to convince the victims to financially support them, as 29 percent of surveyed adults in the United Kingdom said they would offer financial help to the romantic partner they met less than six months ago. Between March and August 2024, the estimated amount of financial loss of Santander UK customers through romance scams, was over 3.8 million GB pounds.
Crypto’s role in scams
With the possibility to make anonymous transactions, cryptocurrencies have created a huge possibility for scammers to steal money. For many people in the UK, scams and phishing are the first thoughts that come to mind when they think about cryptocurrency. The estimated share of illegal cryptocurrency transactions was 0.34 percent in 2023.Scammers usually reason their actions by saying that scamming is the only way for them to make money. But most of the money stolen in scams goes to the heads of the criminal organizations. So, such excuses, are simply irrelevant. In most cases, online scams target the most vulnerable and kind individuals, who are ready to step up and show support in any way possible. And many people think they could never be scammed. The reality is, everybody who uses the internet or other communication tools, could potentially be scammed. The only way to stay safe online is to continue learning about the possible threats and interact only with trustworthy sources.
