A Lanarkshire MP has warned her constituents to be on the alert as cases of impersonation fraud increase significantly across the UK.
Impersonation fraud is an attempt made frequently in which a criminal poses as a company, business, organisation or individual in an attempt to defraud an individual.
Figures show this has increased exponentially by 300 per cent since 2019.
TSB suggest that in 2021 more than half of all fraudulent transaction could be attributed to impersonation fraud.
The retail bank discovered that in impersonation fraud, over half of the money lost was from criminals pretending to be from a bank or building society, claiming that an individual’s account was compromised and money needed to be transferred to safe account.
Authority fraud – when an individual claims to be from the NHS, Police or council and needs an individuals personal details is also on the increase as is Technical Fraud whereby scammers use names of utility companies such as BT, Virgin and Sky are frequently used in an attempt to gain access to an individual’s personal details.
MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, Dr Lisa Cameron, is warning people to be extremely wary of suspicious messages from delivery companies such as Royal Mail, DPD Amazon and Hermes, who fraudulently attempt to get a customer to divulge their personal information.
TSB say people should also be wary of emotive texts or email requests for financial help, as fraudsters are posing as a relative or friends. On average, the bank said, family and friend fraud leads to more than £1,200 lost per case.
TSB have agreed to compensate customers who have been defrauded and where this is officially reported. They hope that further banks follow suit.
Dr Cameron said of the overall increase in figures: “Fraud affects millions of people every year across the UK, and there’s so much more that needs to be done to better support victims and stop it from happening in the first place.
"That’s why I’ve signed TSB’s pledge to Tackle Fraud Together, starting with improvements to the Online Safety Bill so that big tech companies take more action on their platforms.
"We need to protect online victims of fraud, guarantee them compensation, and do more to stop fraud altogether, I will actively be working with TSB to raise as much awareness I can in the local community of these issues in future”.
“I have had a number of constituents affected who have been devastated by impersonation fraud and TSBs actions to compensate customers are a welcome step forward."
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