THE South East has some of the highest number of reported online fraud cases in the country.

More than 53,000 online fraud offences were committed in the region between 2019 and 2020.

London and the South East have the highest number of reported online fraud cases, with 65,824 and 53,317 cases respectively.

In contrast, the West Midlands ranked number five with 31,034 cases.

The research from comparethemarket.com analysed data from the Office of National Statistics to reveal the prevalence of online fraud in the UK and the places with the highest number of reported instances fraud.

James Padmore, head of money at comparethemarket.com, said that there had been a increase in the last year of the amount of cybercrime taking place.

He said: “Our research indicates that the consequences of such crimes affect victims both emotionally and financially, with £4.7 billion having been stolen from UK residents through cybercrimes in the last year.

“It’s important to stay vigilant when communicating about your online data, such as login details, passwords and PINs.

“As a general rule, a bank will never ask you for your PIN, your online banking passwords, or ask you to send any of your personal or banking information by email or text.

“Never share your details unless absolutely necessary. If something feels wrong, it probably is.”

68 per cent of cybercrimes happened after the victim responded to fraudulent emails, texts and phone calls, resulting in them transferring money to the fraudster.

There was a fairly even split between those who sent money in response to fraudulent communications (47 per cent) and those who didn’t (53 per cent).

The full findings can be viewed here: https://www.comparethemarket.com/money/content/online-fraud-report/