Online Fraud Costs UK Over £670 Million

Online fraud in the UK netted cyber criminals over £670 million last year, according to new research designed to coincide with Get Safe Online Week this week.

The annual Cabinet Office-backed awareness raising campaign commissioned the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau to give netizens a flavor of how dangerous it is online.

It found that the top ten “internet-enabled frauds” incurred losses over £670m between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2014.

However, it’s pretty obvious that the figure is far higher than that given many online crimes go unreported.

A separate Get Safe Online poll revealed that over half (51%) of Britons have been a victim of either online fraud, ID theft, hacking or online abuse yet only a third said they reported the crime.

Part of the problem was that many (47%) didn’t know who to report the incident to, although with the creation of Action Fraud - the national fraud and online crime reporting center – this should change.

As more are affected by it, online crime is increasingly being viewed in a more serious light by the public. Some 53% said they now see it as serious as “physical world” crime.

This change in perception could even be helping improve attitudes to online crime.

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