BRIGHTON residents are among the most likely to be targeted by scam phone calls, a new report has found.
The study by comparison website Bionic found that residents in the city reported 326 scam calls to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) between May 2021 and June of this year.
The report found that the most scammed postcode in the city was BN2, with the most common scam found to be related to broadband.
However, London was found to be the scam phone call capital of the UK, with almost 2,000 calls reported to the ICO.
Top ten most scammed cities
- London - 1,988
- Reading - 480
- Southampton - 441
- Edinburgh - 408
- Bristol - 404
- Guildford - 391
- Leicester - 383
- Coventry - 367
- Birmingham - 333
- Brighton - 326
Across Sussex, the report found that those who fall victim to such scams on average lose £210, compared to an average loss of £1,057 per scam in Cheshire.
Over the last 13 months, there were 2,482 instances of consumer phone fraud reported to police, amounting to £1.8 million in losses.
A spokesman for Bionic said that consumers and businesses can take some simple steps to avoid being tricked by phone scams.
He said: “Knowing you’re on the phone with a scammer can sometimes be a challenge, but there are a few typical tell-tale signs that should give it away, such as not initiating the call, vague contact details, or if you’re being pressured to make a decision.”
Anyone who does fall victim to a scam is advised to contact their bank or credit card company, report it, and change any compromised passwords as soon as possible.
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