One in five adults in the UK claim to have been a victim of financial fraud, research from Paragon Bank has indicated.

Paragon’s survey of over 1,500 adults found that 19% had been a victim of financial fraud.

This figure increased to 30% for those aged between 45 and 54, and to 22% for people aged between 55 and 64. Those aged 85 or over were least likely to have fallen victim to fraud (14%), although this group were most likely to prefer not to say (9%).

Paragon’s findings also found that 21% of 35 to 44-year-olds have fallen victim to financial fraud as well as 15% of those in the 25 to 34 age category.

Of those defrauded out of money by scammers, 81% had lost less than £25,000, while the same proportion, 81%, was able to recover all the lost funds. A further 7% was able to partially recover some of the lost money.

One in 10 people, however, couldn’t recover any funds, with 2% not trying to recover money.

The Paragon research also highlighted diverse tactics employed by fraudsters across various demographics. Over half (53%) of people in aged between 18 and 24 had received contact from impersonators claiming to represent mobile phone providers. They were also the most common age group to be contacted by a fraudster impersonating a TV provider, at 32%.

Furthermore, a rise in scams impersonating broadband providers was observed among those aged between 65 and 74, with 49% targeted by this attempted fraud. Respondents aged between 25 and 34 were the highest amongst those who advised they were contacted by police impersonators, at 13%.

Paragon savings director, Derek Sprawling, said: “Fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated in how they target individuals, so whilst people are generally more aware of scams, new techniques are being developed all the time. Therefore, it’s important that people remain vigilant.”

He added: “Paragon will never contact you via email, post or phone asking for your online security details. When you call us, we will run through our security checks as standard and when you visit our website you can be confident that we comply with the privacy standards followed by all major British financial institutions.”

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