More than £612mn was lost to investment fraud in the UK past year, the City of London Police has revealed.
Data from Action Fraud reported £612,208,663 in losses in the past year with people aged 55 and over more likely to be targeted by investment fraudsters.
Reports to Action Fraud showed from January 2023 to January 2024 there were 30,130 reports of investment fraud with the average loss per victim being £25,110.
According to the City of London Police it saw one report from a victim who lost a total of £11.9mn.
Last week (April 2), FT Adviser reported more than £2.6bn had been stolen through investment fraud in the UK since the start of 2020.
Following a Freedom of Information request to the City of London Police National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, the Pensions Management Institute found there were 98,525 victims of investment fraud between January 2020 and December 2023.
The data showed victims typically lost an average of £26,773 to these investment scams over the period amounting to £13mn a week being stolen by fraudsters.
Action Fraud data also revealed the highest affected age range was those aged 55-64 with the amount lost increasing with the victim’s age.
In the 55-64 age range, more than £133mn in losses were recorded according to the data.
Temporary Detective Superintendent Oliver Little from the lead force operations rooms at the City of London Police, said: “Investment fraud destroys lives and is of particular concern to the older demographic of the UK public.
"Victims who are being targeted are those with a healthy amount of savings who have put their hard-earned money away for a rainy day, or to help support family and have been robbed of those opportunities.
“Always seek the advice of friends, family and/or a financial adviser if you are wanting to invest any form of savings.”
Cryptocurrency was the most common commodity victims believed they were investing in and accounted for 40 per cent of all reports, according to the data.
Unspecified trading and stocks and shares collectively accounted for 10 per cent of reporting.
Analysts at the City of London Police suggested the reason cryptocurrency and general trading in stocks were popular could be because fraudsters ask for a smaller upfront investment to 'prove' the opportunity is legitimate, presenting itself as a lower risk for investors.
The data also showed 861 reports had included the names of social media or influential personalities to persuade investors into making investments.
Investors saw advertisements on social media platforms and articles featuring well known celebrities such as Martin Lewis promoting trading platforms, with celebrities or high-profile figures mentioned in 89 per cent of these reports.
alina.khan@ft.com
