Sussex one of the UK areas least at risk of online shopping scams, new study shows

It found that Scotland takes the top spot on the list, with Scotland Police reporting 15,265 fraud and cyber crimes in the past 13 months, with 2,103, or 13.78%, being from online shopping scams.

Sussex takes eighth on the list, with Sussex Police reporting a total of 9,595 fraud and cyber crimes in the past 13 months, with 1,893, or 19.73% of these being from online shopping scams.

Coming in second place is London. Metropolitan Police data shows that of the 63,786 total fraud and cyber-crimes reported in the past 13 months, only 10,683, or 16.75%, were from online shopping.

Taking third in the top ten is the Surrey area. The study found that 1,393, or 18.28%, of the 7,621 total cyber crimes reported by Surrey Police in the past 13 months were from online shopping scams.

The Welsh area of Dyfed-Powys comes in fourth place. The study found that 711, or 18.88%, of the 3,765 total cyber crimes reported by the Dyfed-Powys Police in the past 13 months were from online shopping scams.

Rounding out the top five is the Hertfordshire area. Hertfordshire Police reported 7,341 fraud and cyber crimes in the past 13 months, and of this total, 1,427, or 19.44%, were from online shopping scams.

Ian Cowley, managing director of CartridgeSave.co.uk, said: “It’s important to be extra vigilant while online shopping nowadays, with scammers’ methods getting more and more complicated and believable.

“Several years ago, what may have been easily detectable has turned into scammers using methods like spoofing entire websites and posing as other people.

“It’s important to note that you can still be at risk even if you have minimal use of online shopping, as all it takes is one occasion for you to be caught out to potentially lose a lot financially.”