1. Online shopping and auctions (26%) 2, Other advance fee fraud (21%) 3. Cheque, plastic card and online bank accounts (11%)

the only challenges faced by investigators as they seek to bring those responsible to justice.

The duration of a scam or how long ago it took place can throw up issues around the gathering and retention of evidence, while securing evidence from very vulnerable victims and delays in the judicial process can present difficulties too.

Ms Senior said: “We’re constantly in contact with the victims and it’s difficult sometimes to provide updates. It feels like a never-ending process at times for victims,

I’m sure.

“In other cases, it can be relatively straightforward and quite quick.”

When it comes to educating the communities, it’s not just about raising awareness among the potential victims.

A lot of preventative work takes place with community groups, hospital staff and organisations like Age UK who might come into contact with more vulnerable members of society on a daily basis and could spot the signs that they are being targeted.

But there are basic steps that everyone can take, such as not giving out any personal or account details to people contacting them out of the blue and claiming to be from their bank or another organisation.

The advice in that kind of scenario is always to step back and make your own direct enquiry with an organisation using the phone numbers or website you would usually use, not any links or numbers provided by those making contact.

Other sensible precautions include ensuring anti-virus software on your computer is updated and never clicking on links in unsolicited emails.

Ms Senior said these things seem really quite basic but her team sees plenty of frauds that might have been prevented if those steps had been followed.

Some frauds will be far more elaborate though and it can be very difficult for less experienced people to spot the red flags.

Ms Senior said: “If someone is parting with money not of their own volition, somebody is coming to me and proactively targeting me, that’s the biggest warning sign.”

Whenever someone does fall foul of a scam though, it is crucial that they make a report through Action Fraud.

Those reports can help investigators to close down the avenues being used by fraudsters to target potential victims, whether it be websites,

This is not just about someone who lost their life savings. This is about vulnerable people being targeted; businesses that employ people within our communities and fall foul of a scam then having to close