According to a regional cybercrime survey organised by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, over 1 million people could have fallen victim to cybercrime in 2015 alone.
According to the survey, 29% of people reported losing money to scammers, with some losing over GBP 1,000 in a matter of seconds. Yet very few people report cybercrimes to Action Fraud or the Police, masking the scale of the problem.
The most commonly given reason for not reporting was that they thought it would be a waste of time. Most people just complain to those close to them, or report losses to their bank.
Many people consider themselves to have a complete or good understanding of the risks that they face online, but are nevertheless still failing to take basic steps to protect themselves. National schemes such as CyberStreetWise and Get Safe Online are underused, with only 8% of people making use of these services.
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