Number of millennials falling victim to scams designed to trick people into handing over cash to fraudsters is rising more than any other age group, according to a study from Lloyds Bank.
There has been just under a four-fold increase in the number of 18-34-year-olds being caught out by impersonation scams in 12 months. This puts the age group just as likely to fall victim to these scams as those over 55.
On average, victims aged 18-34 lose £2,630 to these scams, while 55s are losing around £10,716. People aged between 45-54 are being fooled out of £3,573, on average, while there are over three-times the number of victims in this age range.
Impersonation scams typically revolve around someone pretending to be from the police or a bank who ask people to quickly transfer funds into a ‘safe’ account. They often say the police suspect the person’s account is at risk or there is an issue with the bank.
Warnings from banks can even be unheeded as the fraudsters make victims believe the bank staff are involved in the scam.
Lloyds Bank retail fraud director Paul Davis said, “While we are working 24/7 behind the scenes to protect customers and millions of pounds have been frozen, every day fraudsters are trying to trick people into handing over their personal information like a PIN or password or transferring cash.
“Our new campaign will help people to recognise the signs by reminding them that we will never call and ask them to move money to another account. The more we all know about spotting scams, the safer we will all be.”
The bank has launched a multi-media campaign aimed at cracking down on scams, including a TV advert.
Other research from Lloyd’s found that one in four UK adults knew someone duped by a fraudster and one in ten have fallen victim to a scam. However, only 33 per cent have been targeted by a fraudster and stopped it.
Copyright © 2019 FinTech Global
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
