Internet scams on the rise

Web scams in the UK have reached epidemic levels with more than seven in 10 Brits targeted in the past 12 months, according to research from CPP.

The card and identity theft protection company, CPP, said banking phishing emails, remained the largest problem. These emails attempt to steal people’s personal account information and they can be successful.

Over three-quarters of those surveyed said they had received these, and phishing emails contributed to online banking fraud losses; which rose 132 per cent last year to £52.5m according to Apacs, the UK’s Payments Association.

The online research gathered the opinions of 1,563 UK adults who have access to a PC at home, and was carried out between 9 and 15 April 2009. It found that other cons used to defraud consumers were growing just as fast.

Bogus pleas for money were experienced by seven in 10 people. More than one in 10 people (17 per cent) said they had received fake emails from fraudsters posing as friends, family members or acquaintances trying to steal personal information or money. As well as being received by email, social networking sites such as Facebook are increasingly used for these scams.

Fake lottery or competition emails are also still common, with 67 per cent of people saying they had been told they had won a competition; only to find it was a sham.

Michael Lynch, identity fraud expert at CPP, said: “Your identity is your most valuable possession. With web threats on the rise, people need to ensure that they protect their personal information not just in public, but also online.

“Cyber criminals now operate in very sophisticated ways. Although we are seeing very high levels of phishing email attacks asking for passwords and acc ount details, we are now seeing more ‘malware’ attacks such as key-logging, where fraudsters can read what you type on your computer to capture your passwords and other sensitive financial information without you even knowing.

“People need to be vigilant and make sure they have the proper security in place such as up-to-date anti-virus software.”

According to CPP, the under 25s are the most likely of all the age ranges to have reported an increase in the amount of spam they are receiving and 70 per cent of Brits are worried fraud will increase in the recession.

Even high-profile celebrities aren’t immune to this type of crime said CPP; with recent online fraud targets including comedians Harry Hill and Ricky Gervais and Chelsea footballer Didier Drogba.