'Fraud is a national emergency costing the UK billions each year and affecting millions of lives...'

Rise in number of scams targeting adults and children

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ONE in four adults say they encounter scams multiple times each week, a report has found.

Emails, phone calls, texts, social media messages, digital adverts and online marketplaces were common starting points for scam encounters, according to the State of Scams in the UK report.

The research was released by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), in partnership with fraud prevention service Cifas and financial software provider Tietoevry Banking.

It also indicated that a fifth of people said they had been targeted by scams and had money taken from them in the year to March.

And one in six (16 per cent) parents with children aged seven to 17 said at least one of their children has been scammed.

Two-thirds (67 per cent) of adults surveyed said they had encountered a “scam experience” in the past 12 months, regardless of whether or not it was successful for the criminal.

Shopping or purchase scams were the most common type of fraud, affecting 45 per cent of this group.