UK's national fraud reporting center, Action Fraud, announced that during the first six months it received over 15,000 web reports. The losses generated by these scams varied between as little as £6 to over £1 million ($1.5 million).

Fifteen thousands reports might seem a small number compared to United Kingdom's 62 million population, however, one should take into account that one report might expose a scheme affecting thousands. The country's National Fraud Authority (NFA) estimates the annual fraud losses to be in excess of £3.5 billion.

Action Fraud is an NFA operated center, which aims at being a central point of contact for reporting fraud incidents. The information received through the center is then forwarded to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau of the Metro Police. The center also serves as place for getting information on fraud protection.

According to the data gathered by Action Fraud during June, the most common type of fraud reported involved online shopping and auction scams. Advance fee frauds like loan and psychic scams, romance and dating, non-investment frauds such as miracle health and internet dialer scams, as well as share sale fraud complete the top five.

“Fraud, of any value, is a serious crime that devastates lives and often funds more organised crime like drug smuggling and people trafficking. We’re very pleased to see so many people speaking up, but we know there are many more victims out there. People often feel embarrassed, but they shouldn’t. There are many types of fraud and anyone can become a victim,” Dr. Bernard Herdan, chief executive of the National Fraud Authority, commented.

The NFA also gives a few simple common sense tips for people to follow in order to stay away from many scams. First of all, the old saying “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” still holds a lot of truth. Next, if people claim you've won a contest or lottery to which you haven't agreed to participate, then its most likely a scam.

Other advices include asking detailed questions about all promotions or offers you are presented with and seeing how the other person reacts. Them being elusive is not a good sign. Never giving away money or your personal information to people asking for it without checking if they are who they claim to be is critically important. Also, if someone claims to be contacting you on behalf of a company, check if the company really exists and call to confirm the identity of the person who contacted you.

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