Fraudsters posing as Microsoft IT workers fleeced 34,500 Britons out of "hundreds of millions of pounds" before police announced their arrests this week.
Such scams cost UK consumers an estimated £10bn in 2016, says a new report from the National Audit Office (NAO). However, online fraud isn’t only a consumer problem - businesses are also estimated to have lost £144bn.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The NAO says fraud is the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales with most of the cases involving online scams. Yet, despite the size of the problem, only one in every 150 police officers focus on fraud investigations, the Daily Mail says, calling the NAO study a "damning report".
In cases involving consumer fraud, almost four out of ten cases involved victims who lost more than £250, the NAO says.
UK residents have lost money attempting to buy jewellery, cameras and musical instruments. One person reported losing £5,000 after attempting to purchase a houseboat from a fake website, the BBC reports.
"It is really important that people don't rush into buying an item when they spot a bargain, but take some time to make sure it is genuine first," Citizens Advice head Gillian Guy told the BBC.
In the Microsoft tech support case, the accused allegedly cold called residents saying they had "detected a fault with their target's PC and fooled victims into giving them remote access", the BBC reports, and then demanded a fee to fix the issue or convinced residents to provide bank account information.
-
What we know about the Copenhagen mall shootingSpeed Read Lone gunman had mental health issues and not thought to have terror motive, police say
-
Texas school shooting: parents turn anger on policeSpeed Read Officers had to be urged to enter building where gunman killed 21 people
-
DJ Tim Westwood denies multiple sexual misconduct allegationsSpeed Read At least seven women accuse the radio and TV presenter of predatory behaviour dating back three decades
-
What happened to Katie Kenyon?Speed Read Man charged as police search for missing 33-year-old last seen getting into van
-
Brooklyn subway shooting: exploring New York’s ‘steep decline in law and order’Speed Read Last week, a gunman set off smoke bombs and opened fire on a rush-hour train in the city
-
How the Capitol attack investigation is splitting the RepublicansSpeed Read Vote to censure two Republican representatives has revealed deep divisions within party
-
Is sentencing a Nazi sympathiser to read Shakespeare an appropriate punishment?Speed Read Judge seemed to think introducing student ‘to high culture’ would ‘magically make him a better person’ said The Daily Telegraph
-
Sarah Everard’s murder: a national reckoning?Speed Read Wayne Couzen’s guilty plea doesn’t ‘tidy away the reality of sexual violence’
