Almost 45 million people in the UK were targeted by scam text messages or phone calls over the summer, according to telecoms regulator Ofcom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About half reported getting a scam call or text at least once a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A survey of 2,000 adults in September found that almost a million people had been misled by a message or a call which they received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Text scams are most common among 16 to 34-year-olds, with two-thirds receiving one between June and August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The elderly are more often targeted using their landlines, with 61% of those over 75 receiving a scam phone call, but all ages are at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UK residents who believe they have been targeted, or are the victim of a scam, can report a text message by forwarding it to 7726 – the numbers on the keypad that have the letters for spam on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Ofcom found that 79% of mobile phone users were unaware of that service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scam calls should be reported to Action Fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom’s networks and communications group director, urged the public not to reply to messages which do not seem quite right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Criminals who defraud people using phone and text scams can cause huge distress and financial harm to their victims, and their tactics are becoming increasingly sophisticated,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Stay alert to any unsolicited contact. Put the phone down if you have any suspicion that it is a scam call, and don’t click on any links in text messages you’re unsure about.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Almost 45 million people in the UK were targeted by scam text messages or phone calls over the summer, according to telecoms regulator Ofcom. About half reported getting a scam call or text at least once a week. A survey of 2,000 adults in September found that almost a million people had been misled by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n