Areas of the UK Most Affected by Online and Auction Scams

More and more people are shopping online than ever before, as e-commerce sales amounted to $4.9trillion worldwide last year and are expected to rise to $7.4 trillion by 2025.

However, while this rapid increase in profit benefits the retail industry, more people shopping online has caused a rise in e-commerce fraud.

To discover which areas of the UK were worst affected by online shopping and auction scams, researchers at Wholesale Clearance UK contacted all 48 police forces – who reported a combined loss of £53,769,900 million overall* from 75, 868 reports between June 2021 and July 2022.

But which area has had the most victims?

Bedfordshire police force received the most reports for online and auction scams, with 149 reports filed per 100,000 and £566,500 in losses overall. There were 1,0007 cases filed in total, with victims losing around £600 per case.

While still high, these figures are significantly less than last year, with Action Fraud reporting that the area experienced £14.7 million in losses between February 2020 and March 2021.

In joint second place is Dyfed Powys and Cambridgeshire, both with 130 reports per 100,000 people.

Dyfed Powys victims collectively lost out on over £500,000, an average of nearly £800 per case.

In April, Dyfed Powys police issued a number of warnings for scams they’d recognised circulating within their jurisdiction. These included scams via Facebook Marketplace, on fake gift cards and fraudsters pretending to be from Tesco.

Cambridgeshire residents collectively lost £786,100 of their hard earned cash when shopping online, which is over £700 per victim.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of organisations teamed up to form the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Against Scams Partnership Charter (CAPASP) to raise awareness and support victims of scams after they noticed an increased number of reports.

Making up the top five areas of the UK most affected by online and auction scams was Thames Valley (128), Metropolitan (126) and Wiltshire (124) – where victims lost an average of £612, £699 and £639 per case.