It’s the modern malaise: online fraud. In a world where so many of our transactions happen over the internet, it’s little wonder that fraudsters have descended on the web in droves.
The latest statistics paint a bleak picture. According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 11.5 million incidents of crime relating to computer misuse and fraud offences in 2016. That’s cybercrime on an unprecedented level.
Now new research suggests that more than one in ten Britons have had to cancel a credit or debit card in the past year due to online fraud. Comparethemarket.com says this reveals a worsening state of affairs, with the number of people cancelling cards rising from 4.5 million to 5.5 million since the research was last conducted in September 2016.
Of the people who fell victim to a hack and had money stolen, the average amount taken soared from £475 to £600.
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