Thousands more fall victim as criminals harvest data online

The consumer group Which? also found that “computer fixing” frauds, in which users are charged for repairs to non-existent problems, are a problem in North Yorkshire - which is also said to be a blackspot for fake PPI services.

Across the region, online shopping and auction scams, in which products advertised on websites never arrive or do not match their description, are the most common complaints to the national reporting service, Action Fraud.

Which? revealed the findings after analysing thousands of reports made over a three-year period from 2014.

It identified Norfolk as the worst place for dating fraud, with 1.6 reports per 10,000 people, compared with the general average of 1.1. Often in such cases, people are fooled into sending money to someone with whom they believe they are in a relationship.

Norfolk was also a hotspot for lottery scams, in which victims are duped into handing over money to enter a bogus prize draw.

The computer fixing scam identified in North Yorkshire is also a problem nationally, with more than 80,000 reported victims, Which? said. Perpetrators often target victims by phone, by claiming to be from well known technology firms or by placing fraudulent advertisements on websites.

Doorstep scams, in which traders go door-to-door offering goods or services that are never delivered, or are of poor quality, were found to be above the national average in the West Yorkshire and Humberside Police areas.

Gareth Shaw, a money expert at Which?, said the storage of personal information online had been a gift to criminals.

“As more information is available about us than ever before, fraudsters are finding it much easier to know who to target and how,” he said.

“These criminals are constantly finding new ways to rip us off and those tackling fraud should be upping their game.”

Which? wants banks to give stronger protection to customers who are tricked into transferring money from their bank account to fraudsters.

“The government needs to set out an ambitious agenda to tackle fraud, while law enforcement agencies need to be working harder to identify and protect the people most at risk from fraud,” Mr Shaw said.

Other frauds found to be prevalent include the installation of computer virus and other malicious software that can replicate itself and spread from one PC to another, often collecting information or data from infected devices. Nationally, 15,500 people reported they had become victims.

Banking frauds include so-called mandate crimes, in which more than 160,000 victims were persuaded to change a direct debit, standing order or bank transfer by someone pretending to be from an organisation the victim regularly pays, such as phone or energy company.

Over the last two years, reports of similar frauds increased by 134 per cent in London, while computer fixing fraud rose by 233 per cent in the South East.

London is said to be a hotspot for social media and email hacking, door-to-door sales, fraud involving false or stolen goods and ticket fraud.