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UK consumers lose £3.5 billion to scams each year

An investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has revealed the true extent to which the UK population are suffering from fraudulent mail shots, bogus emails and fake telephone calls. In conjunction with a number of councils around the country the OFT revealed that 15,000 fraudulent mailings were handed in by consumers around the UK, leading to massive loses.



Many of the mailings, emails and telephone calls have been found to originate from overseas where it can often be difficult to trace those involved and even if they are traceable they have often disappeared before any arrests can be made. The problem for the OFT seems to be the fact that many people in the UK are too embarrassed to admit they have been duped so literally thousands of cases go unreported.



However, this latest investigation seems to indicate that some £3.5 billion a year is lost to these scams with the prize cash draw seemingly the more successful, asking people to send money in to claim a prize from a draw they never even entered!



The bottom line is that if it looks too good to be true then it probably is - so don't get involved!

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