Over four in 10 (41%) of UK adults have experienced a scam attempt in the past 12 months, Canada Life has found.

The research by the insurance firm found that 14% of those fell victim to the scam, equating to 3.6 million UK adults.

The average amount lost in these scams totalled £4,715 per person, equating to £17bn as a nation. Although more than two in five (43%) of victims managed to get all their money back, over a quarter (26%) were not able to recover any of their stolen funds.

Canada Life’s research found that the top three financial scam types are tax or debt collection (32%), advance fee scams (25%), and “hello mum” scams (23%), where a scammer poses as a family member requesting an urgent bill to be made.

The results found that 40% of UK adults have been targeted to part ways with their money via email, text or voicemail, known as phising, smishing or vishing.

Furthermore, it was those who are aged 55 and over who are more likely to be targeted, with 48% of people in that age range reporting a scam attempt. However, 38% of those in this age range did not report a scam.

Two thirds (67%) of UK adults agreed that AI that will make financial scams more sophisticated, with almost half (48%) believing that AI will make it more likely that they will fall for a financial scam.

Tax and estate planning specialist at Canada Life, Julia Peake, said: “With the cost of living crisis continuing to squeeze many households, it’s a real field day for criminals and scammers to target vulnerable people. They are opportunistic and play on insecurities, family connections and fear, taking advantage of crises and market disruptions both home or around the world, and the number of people being targeted seems to be going up.

“With the development of AI and fake adverts, the range of communication and types of financial scams are becoming ever more intrusive and sophisticated. Martin Lewis was recently a victim of this and took to the airwaves to air his concern and raise awareness with the public.

“If you experience a scam attempt, or if you fall victim to one, the best thing you can do is to speak up and report it. Unfortunately, the reality is that many people could be caught up in a scam so, should you fall victim, know that you are not alone. These criminal scammers can only be held accountable and brought to justice if the authorities and platforms know about it.”

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