New fraud test reveals your risk – and how you can protect yourself from scammers
There are eight questions, and at the end of the test you can see how likely it is that you could be a victim of fraud
MILLIONS of people fall victim to fraud or cyber crime every year, and there's a new way to find out if you're an easy target.
Consumer group Which? has launched a test which gives you a fraud risk score and explains how you can help protect yourself in future.
There are eight questions, and at the end of the test you can see how likely it is that you could be a victim of fraud.
Questions include whether you ever use public Wi-Fi to browse the internet on your phone, and whether you're on the open electoral register - two things that can increase your fraud risk score.
to see what your risk is, and what you should be doing to protect yourself.
According to Which? around 5.6million consumers fell victim to fraud or cyber crime last year, but consumers aren't doing enough to protect themselves.
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A survey of more than 1,800 Which? members found that two thirds use the same password across multiple accounts, while more than one in four are on the open electoral register, leaving their details publicly available.
Just one in four check their credit report at least once a year - which gives consumers an indication of whether anything is wrong.
Consumer groups and anti-fraud bodies are increasingly raising awareness of the risk of fraud, and Action Fraud recently created a bogus website, called Surfed Arts – an anagram for fraudsters – to show how easy it is to become a victim of ticket scams online.
Three steps to protect yourself from online fraud
THERE are three simple steps that anyone can take to protect themselves from online fraud.
- Use strong passwords for online accounts, whether it’s for your online banking or social media accout
- Download software updates when prompted on your devices to ensure everything is up-to-date
- Avoid using public wi-fi for banking and online shopping.
Action Fraud used Facebook adverts to target people living in areas where bands or artists are due to play sell-out concerts, such as Adele in London, Ed Sheeran in Manchester, Bruno Mars in Leeds and Coldplay in Cardiff.
Fans who clicked on the adverts were taken to the Surfed Arts website where they were immediately told that they were not able to buy tickets, and advised on how to protect themselves from falling victim to real ticket fraudsters in the future.
More than 1,500 people fell for a fake ticket sales website, and had it been real, tens of thousands of pounds would have been handed over to fraudsters.
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