£16,000 warning issued to everyone with a bank account

People contacting a financial scams helpline over the past year have typically lost more than £16,000, according to a Government-backed body. The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) said that, between April 2023 and March 2024, the 833 people who contacted a dedicated helpline lost a total of £13.6 million.

The average loss to fraud was a huge £16,297 per person. Devastated victims got in touch with the service after being tricked in cruel scams and losing huge amounts of money, in the hope of being able to get it back.

Identity theft, bank account scams and digital currency investment fraud were behind some of the cases. MaPS also said that, among people who had had a pension guidance call through its MoneyHelper service, just over seven in 10 (71%) reported feeling more confident in spotting a potential scam.

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People who contacted the service were victims of some of the largest scams in terms of cash lost, as victims faced up to the reality they had been conned out of thousands of pounds. Charlotte Jackson, head of guidance services at MaPS said it was "awful" to learn of the huge amounts of money involved and how the shocking crimes had wrecked people's lives.

"Sadly, financial crimes and scams are rife and it's awful to see so much money being lost, but hopefully our appointments can give people more security and understanding when it comes to dealing with them in the future." Tips for avoiding scams include never clicking on links sent in texts or emails from sources or numbers you don't recognise and never to give out passwords or passcodes as this could give criminals access to your accounts.