UK-based victims of online shopping scams lost an average of £1,000 per person during the 2021 holiday season, according to National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) statistics released today to coincide with a new National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) anti-fraud campaign run under the auspices of its Cyber Aware programme.
All told, UK shoppers lost more than £15m to cyber criminals from November 2021 to January 2022, with victims being duped out of their cash while trying to shop online. There were nearly 20,000 reports in all, of which 20% related to the purchase of electronics, 13% to mobile phones, and 8% to vehicles.
Notably, over half of the scams reported to Action Fraud during the period related to one social media platform in particular – although the NCSC did not name it.
One victim, who lost £7,000 while trying to buy a second-hand campervan, said: “I identified a campervan that I wanted to purchase on an auction site and so I made contact with the seller through the platform, asking whether I could inspect the vehicle. The seller replied that they were on holiday, so this was not possible. However, they would arrange for the vehicle to be delivered to me.
“I was advised that in order for the seller to arrange delivery of the vehicle, I would need to send a copy of my passport, as per the request of the delivery company. I proceeded by providing a copy of my passport, as requested.
“Following this, I received an invoice supposedly from…
