Britons lose £3.5bn a year to mass-marketing scams

AURA SABADUS

MASS-MARKETING scams are conning £3.5 billion from the British public every year, with nearly half of the country's population being targeted, a major new report has revealed.

And the survey of more than 11,200 people by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) contradicted common perceptions that most victims of these crimes are vulnerable elderly people.

The OFT report found that, each year, one in 15 adults are caught out by deceptive mailings, bogus calls or e-mails - losing an average £850 each time, with the highest losses suffered by those caught out by investment scams which cost victims an average of £5560.

And the study also discovered that once people have been caught out, victims have a 30 per cent chance of falling for another scam within one year. This is probably due to their personal details being added to a so-called "suckers list", which is sold on to other con artists, the OFT reported.

Among the most common tricks used to part people from their money are mailings which appear to offer clairvoyant advice or career opportunities.

Men and women are equally likely to be victims of the scams, although, as the report shows, the incidence varies by specific activities. Women are more likely to be taken in by miracle health scams and clairvoyant mailings, while men are caught out by cons involving high risk investments.

Mike Haley of the OFT said: "This research shows for the first time the full extent of damage done to individuals and to the wider UK economy by manipulative and malicious scams.

"The £3.5 billion stolen from the public, which will line the pockets of scammers this Christmas, equates about £70 per year for each adult living in the UK.

He added: "Young, and old, and people from all backgrounds are taken in by increasingly sophisticated scams."

The mass-marketed scams included within the research were premium-rate telephone prize scams, prize draw and sweepstake scams, pyramid selling and chain letter scams, bogus holiday clubs or foreign lottery scams.

Bogus holiday clubs were high on the list of money-making scams, with people losing around £1.2 billion per year.

High-risk investment scams also con consumers out of £490 million per year, while a further £420 million per year is lost to pyramid sales scams and other 'get-rich-quick' schemes including £260 million to fake foreign lotteries.

Mr Haley added: "Cheap methods of mass communication such as direct mail, telephone, e-mail and the internet bring great economic benefits, but in the wrong hands, they are also tools to perpetrate fraud and deception on a global scale.

"Nothing is new about the problem of scams by confidence tricksters except for the scale of the problem and the ease by which international criminals and their customers communicate."

Last night, politicians also called for more to be done to tackle the problem. Kenny MacAskill, the SNP's justice spokesman, said: "We need to try and warn people so they are not taken in by these cons and we need to ensure those who are carrying them out are caught and punished. These people are preying on citizens and we should ensure that does not happen."

SCOTS 'ARE MOST LIKELY TO FALL FOR MAIL SCAMS'

SCOTS are most likely to fall for clairvoyant mailing and career opportunity scams, according to a report by the Office of Fair Trading.

In the case of mailing tricks, consumers receive a letter from a so-called clairvoyant, promising to make predictions that will change their lives - for a small fee.

The mailings can be aggressive in tone, warning of dire consequences for the recipient or their relatives if they do not send money or do not purchase a lucky talisman, crystal, amulet, or a set of numbers.

Although they are sent out in their millions, mailings are personalised to make it look as if the recipient has been specifically chosen.

Clairvoyant/psychic mailings cost the UK public an estimated £40 million and around 170,000 people across Britain fall victim. The mean loss per victim is £240.

Nearly 70 per cent of the victims are women, and the most vulnerable age group, 35 to 64.

Another high-risk scam in Scotland includes career opportunity cons, where consumers see an advert offering to turn manuscripts into successful published books. The publisher will express enthusiasm for the manuscripts, outlining a plan for getting the published version into bookshops.

However, they will also explain that for the plan to be put into action, a fee will have to be paid. This may amount to hundreds or even thousands of pounds.

The publisher will say that the cash will soon be recovered when the royalties from the publication roll in.

The reality is likely to be publication of a relatively small number of copies of the manuscript, with the publisher making no real effort at marketing the book.