{"id":32266,"date":"2017-10-04T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T08:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cawatford.org.uk\/internal\/?p=32266"},"modified":"2017-09-29T17:14:03","modified_gmt":"2017-09-29T16:14:03","slug":"people-targeted-scammers-dont-anything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cawatford.org.uk\/internal\/people-targeted-scammers-dont-anything\/","title":{"rendered":"Most people are targeted by scammers. Why don\u2019t they do anything about it?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

More people would take action on scams if there was one place to report\u00a0them<\/h2>\n

Our new research<\/a>\u00a0shows that most people have been targeted by a scam.<\/p>\n

Almost three quarters (72%) of adults aged 18 and over have been targeted by scammers in the last 2 years. They\u2019re targeted through the post, phone calls, text messages, emails, online, and face to face on their own doorsteps. Over a third (37%) have been targeted 5 times or more.<\/p>\n

But less than half of them are taking steps to protect themselves. Even fewer \u2014 around a third \u2014 take steps to protect a friend or family member.<\/p>\n

This could be because most people are quite confident in their ability to spot a scam. Despite this, more than 1 in 10 of those who were confident did get drawn in.<\/p>\n

Scams are getting more sophisticated. Scammers are operating across all channels of communication, from copycat websites seeking to extract personal information and emails that look like they\u2019re from banks, to letters promoting fake competitions, lotteries and investment opportunities.<\/p>\n

Why don\u2019t most people don\u2019t report\u00a0scams?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Scams are a type of fraud, and this is now the most common offence in the UK.<\/p>\n

6 out of 10 people say they would be willing to report a scam, yet nearly 7 out of 10 didn\u2019t report the last scam they came across.<\/p>\n

This seems to be because people don\u2019t think there\u2019s any point \u2014 1 in 5 people who we spoke to said that they didn\u2019t think it was worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Of the people we spoke to who\u2019d fallen victim to a scam, a third had lost money.<\/p>\n

We need to highlight the importance of reporting scams. This is how scammers get caught. When scams aren\u2019t reported, it\u2019s more difficult for the authorities and industry to identify and take action against fraudsters. It restricts their ability to understand who is most likely to fall victim to a scam<\/p>\n

Reporting is also an essential part of preventing friends and loved ones from being targeted. 11% of the people we spoke to knew friends or family members who have lost money to a scam.<\/p>\n

Older people especially appear to be less confident in their ability to spot a scam, and less likely to take measures to protect themselves compared to other groups. But two thirds of the people we spoke to have taken no action to help protect friends or family. Take up of the Telephone and Mailing Preference Services \u2014 both designed to help people block calls from scammers \u2014 is low.<\/p>\n

Who should you report scams\u00a0to?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We think the government and other organisations should work together to develop a more joined-up process for reporting scams. 2 in 5 people said they would be more likely to report a scam if there was a single organisation to report them to \u2014so this is something we\u2019re pushing for.<\/p>\n

Protect yourself and the people you care about,\u00a0find out how to play your part and act on scams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More people would take action on scams if there was one place to report\u00a0them<\/p>\n

Our new research<\/a>\u00a0shows that most people have been targeted by a scam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"protect_children":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMost people are targeted by scammers. Why don\u2019t they do anything about it? - Watford<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cawatford.org.uk\/internal\/people-targeted-scammers-dont-anything\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Most people are targeted by scammers. 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