A major bank says it has seen an increase in scams over the past three months, with fraudsters mostly relying on purchase, impersonation and investment tactics to steal money
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Financial scams against Brits are on the rise – and now major bank Barclays has revealed the three main ways fraudsters are targetting consumers.
The bank says it has recorded a 17% rise in scams over the past three months, and that other figures show a 70% increase in attempted fraud over the period.
Barclays’ chief behavioural Scientist Dr Pete Brooks says there are ways to cut down the risk of being defrauded with the most common scams.
Purchase Scams
Purchase scams, where people buy goods online which don’t exist or never arrive, accounted for over half (53%) of reported scams in Barclays data – with an average loss of £980.
Dr Brooks explains: “Scammers create a perceived scarcity and therefore ‘value’ in what they are selling to motivate consumers to act quickly and not rely on their better judgment.
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“This might be advertising something as a ‘one-time offer’, a limited edition price or availability, or rushing us into buying something that ‘has’ to be bought now – even if you’ve never seen the product in real life”.
Barclays advice is to never be rushed and to read reviews of the…
