Five things to do to avoid becoming a victim of fraud

A MAJOR new campaign to combat fraud is offering people five pieces of advice to avoid being victims of scams.

More than one million cases of financial fraud where victims lost money were detected in the first half of 2016, which was a 53 peer cent increase compared with a year earlier, according to Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK).

There were 1,007,094 such incidents between January and June - equating to one every 15 seconds - made up of payment card fraud, cheque fraud and online and telephone banking fraud.

FFA UK, along with major banks and financial services providers, has launched a campaign called Take Five, which encourages people to pause and think before they respond to any financial requests or hand over any personal details. This pausing could be by stopping a phone conversation or delaying a reply to an email or text

The Take Five campaign asks consumers to help protect themselves from financial fraud by remembering some advice:

1. Never disclose security details, such as your Pin or full password.

2. Do not assume an email request or caller is genuine - people are not always who they say they are.

3. Do not be rushed - a bank or genuine organisation will not mind waiting to give you time to stop and think.

4. Listen to your instincts - if something feels wrong then it is usually right to pause and question it.

5. Stay in control - have the confidence to refuse unusual requests for information.