New knowledge from the government-backed Cash and Pensions Service (MAPS) has revealed that buyers have reported dropping £13.6m to monetary scammers over the previous yr, a median of over £16,000 every.
MAPS, which offers private finance steering to shoppers, additionally runs a devoted helpline for shoppers to report monetary scams.
Over the previous yr (April 2023 to March 2024) MAPS says its helpline knowledge confirmed that 833 individuals misplaced a complete of £13.6m resulting from monetary crimes and scams – an estimated common lack of £16,297 per client.
Fraud accounted for 9% of the full losses with id theft accountable for 16%, checking account scams (14%), cyber forex funding fraud (14%), and Authorised Push Fee (APP) fraud (9%).
Fraud now accounts for roughly 38% of all crime in England and Wales and has greater than doubled in Scotland over the previous 9 years.
Some shoppers at the moment are getting assistance on recognizing pension fraud from MAPS.
A survey of customers for MAPS discovered that just about three quarters of individuals (71%) reported that they felt extra assured in recognizing and managing a possible monetary rip-off after having a Pension Steering name with MoneyHelper.
MAPS mentioned it will proceed to encourage extra individuals to “get in contact” with it to debate their pension points.
MAPS’ Pension Steering service reported constructive suggestions, with 83% of those that had phone appointments saying they felt in “extra management” of their monetary scenario.
Clients additionally mentioned they’d suggest the service to others (87%) and that they had been excited about or had already acted round their pension (69%).
Charlotte Jackson, head of steering providers at MAPS, mentioned: “Sadly, monetary crimes and scams are rife and it’s terrible to see a lot cash being misplaced, however hopefully our appointments can provide individuals extra safety and understanding relating to coping with them sooner or later.”
MAPS additionally runs the Pension Smart web page on MoneyHelper.
• Survey knowledge was produced by Market Analysis firm, Ipsos MORI. The survey presents knowledge from prospects who’ve been involved with MoneyHelper from December 2023 to February 2024 (and who’ve been interviewed from January and March 2024).
