OLDER people in the West Mercia Police region lost more than £140,000 last year, according to new cybercrime data acquired by the charity Age UK.
A Freedom of Information request to Action Fraud, the national fraud reporting centre, found West Mercia Constabulary received 185 reports of cybercrime, in England and Wales between April 2018 and March 2019, from people aged 55 and over, making it the 6th worst in the country.
Cybercrime, or computer orientated crime, can take many forms but some of the most common examples are phishing, investment fraud, identity theft, fraudulent adverts, and blackmail. This could be a handbag that never materialises, a cryptocurrency investment or an online auction site scam.
Older people who became victims of these crimes in West Mercia, which covers Worcestershire, Shropshire and Herefordshire, reported a total loss of £141,372 during that period.
They made up one quarter of the overall number of cybercrime victims in the area.
