A 2022 Investment Fraud Report published by comparison website BrokerChooser suggests that scam enquiries are increasing by 23% year on year, with cryptocurrency responsible for over a quarter of all filings to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s ScamSmart website.
A total of 24,689 scam enquiries were logged in 2020 alone, with foreign exchange complaints comprising 13.48%, pension transfer complaints comprising 11.99% and bonds complaints comprising 11.14%.
The study cites London as the UK area with the largest online fraud problem, followed by the West Midlands and Greater Manchester.
Using data sourced from the FCA and the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the report reveals that online and social media advertising are the preferred methods for scammers, although friend recommendations come in third, followed by telephone calls.
Outside of the UK, California is the most popular state for US-based scammers according to the data, while New South Wales has by far the largest number of investment fraud victims of any Australian state or territory.