According to online media outlet Fraudehelpdesk, the majority involved phishing cases, where fraudsters send a seemingly official email to try and gain access to consumers banking details. The other cases mainly involved offers of lottery winnings or other prizes that first required the consumer to make a payment or hand over personal information.
The same source estimates the 28,000 complaints are only the tip of the iceberg, with no more than 10 % of fraud attempts actually reported.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now
We welcome comments that add value to the discussion. We attempt to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam, and our editors frequently review the comments to ensure they are appropriate. If you see a comment that you believe is inappropriate to the discussion, you can bring it to our attention by using the report abuse links. As the comments are written and submitted by visitors of the The Paypers website, they in no way represent the opinion of The Paypers.