A TOTAL of £23.6 million was lost last year due to fraudsters tricking people across Britain into transferring money directly into their bank accounts, new figures show.

The data was released by Financial Fraud Action (FFA UK), whose members include banks, credit, debit and charge card issuers, as Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) launched its annual national awareness week in partnership with FFA UK. NHW’s 173,000 volunteers will ask their neighbours to share fraud warnings and pass on advice to three of their friends so that more than two million people can be reached by the end of the campaign.

The drive is backed by a specialist police unit funded by the banking industry to tackle criminals involved in financial fraud. Katy Worobec, director of FFA UK, said: “We want to declare this week a time for all those who are aware of these threats to talk to relatives and neighbours and warn them about suspect calls and how to protect themselves.”

The fraud typically works by the criminal calling their victim and pretending to be from their bank, although there are variations. The fraudster will convince the victim that fraud has been detected on their bank account and that they have to act fast by moving their money into a so-called “safe account”.

The fraud is often successful because criminals will use a range of techniques – such as “spoofing” the telephone number on the person’s caller ID display so that it matches their bank’s number, or making reference to genuine account information which they have fraudulently obtained elsewhere.

Consumers are being warned to be wary of cold callers who suggest the consumer hangs up the phone and calls them back. Fraudsters can keep a phone line open by not putting down the receiver at their end. If someone feels something is suspicious or feels vulnerable, they should hang up, wait five minutes to clear the line, or where possible use a different phone line, then call their bank or card issuer on their advertised number to report the fraud, organisers said.