One of the UK’s leading cybersecurity agencies is urging the nation’s shoppers to stay safe online, after revealing that they lost over £11.5m ($14.5m) to fraudsters during last year’s festive period.
Over recent years, the countdown to the busy Christmas shopping season has begun at around Black Friday, which falls this year on November 29, and lasts until early January.
Yet new figures revealed today by the NCSC and Action Fraud note that scammers took an average of £695 from each of their online victims between November 2023 and January 2024.
Some 7168 reports, amounting to two-fifths (43%) of the total, cited a social media platform, while online marketplaces were mentioned in 19%. Overall, losses to cybercrime and fraud last Christmas were up over 8% from 2022, the study added.
Read more on festive scams: UK FCA Warns of Christmas Loan Fee Fraud Surge
The NCSC/Action Fraud figures revealed that those aged 30-39 submitted the largest number of reports last year (23%), closely followed by 40-49-year-olds (20%). The average age of victims was 42.
Scammers have a variety of tools and tactics at their disposal, from advertising non-existent items at knockdown prices, to setting up lookalike web stores promoted by fake ads and phishing messages, which are designed to harvest personal and financial information.
“With Action Fraud data revealing more than 16,000 reports of online shopping fraud over last year’s festive period, we are urging people to shop safely online – especially if you’re buying on social media – and avoid being left empty handed for the holiday season,” said Adam Mercer, deputy head of Action Fraud.
“Never feel pressured into buying anything online – creating a false sense of urgency is a tell-tale sign of a fraudster. Whether you are shopping on online marketplaces, social media or retailers, avoid bank transfers if you can, and use a credit card as it can provide more protection if anything goes wrong.”
The NCSC published the figures today as it launched a new awareness campaign designed to increase take up of two-factor authentication (2FA) for important online accounts.
“To stay protected, I strongly recommend following our online shopping guidance, including setting up two-step verification and creating memorable but secure passwords using three random words,” said new NCSC CEO, Richard Horne.