People in Northern Ireland have been defrauded of £19m this year as more than 5,000 scams were reported to the PSNI.
More than 5,200 reports of fraud have been made to the police in the 12-month period from November 2023 to the end of October this year, with the total reported loss close to £19 million.
The figures, from Action Fraud, show a diverse range of scams have resulted in losses ranging from hundreds of pounds in ticket scams to hundreds of thousands of pounds in impersonation and investment scams.
In one of the biggest cases, a bank impersonation scam where a victim was called by someone claiming to be from their bank telling them there had been suspicious activity on their account was defrauded by over £100,000.
An online romance scam resulted in the transfer of more than £50,000 in another case – allegedly to help with a business opportunity.
Another example from the last year resulted in hundreds of thousands of pounds lost in an investment scam where the person believed they were part of a genuine online business opportunity, only to find out it was a con.
PSNI Superintendent and chair of Scamwise NI Joanne Gibson has described the methods used by fraudsters as “sickening”.
“Scams are presented in so many different ways and, with advances in technology, they can appear genuine and as if they’re legitimate,” the senior officer said.
“In terms of the investment scams we’ve seen reported, often these may seem like a good way to boost savings, however, they are often high-risk investments with limited regulation or safeguards.”
“While a variety of approaches are used, some of them extremely sophisticated, the end goal for criminals never changes and that’s to access personal and financial details which are used to commit a more sophisticated scam where the losses can be substantial as we’ve seen from the total losses reported in the last year.
“It’s sickening because people who have placed their trust in someone, or believed an opportunity to be genuine, discover in the most cruel way a criminal has stolen their money.”
The PSNI issued an appeal for the public to be vigilant to potential scams, and to report them when they do happen.
“By staying vigilant, and taking the time to verify the approach is genuine and legitimate, we can protect ourselves and our loved ones against criminals and keep our money safe,” Superintendent Gibson added.
“Importantly, if you have lost money in a scam please report it - to police, your bank and Action Fraud as soon as possible. This is key to stopping the fraudster’s ability to steal more of your money.”
