ONLINE shopping scams cost consumers £15.4million last Christmas as more than 28,000 people reported being conned — up 61 per cent on the year before.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales last year also saw victims lose an average £550 on goods that didn’t exist, with criminals pocketing £2.5million.
Action Fraud, the national cyber crime centre, has warned people to think before parting with money and to be wary of clones of popular shopping websites.
They are created to look identical to the real sites but prices are much cheaper to entice victims who will never receive the item.
Director Pauline Smith said: ‘Always shop with official retailers. And if you think you’ve found a bargain that’s too good to be true, it probably is.’
Shoppers reported buying mobile phones, electronics, clothing and footwear on websites such as Facebook, eBay and Gumtree, only for the items to never arrive.
Fifty-four per cent of electronics cons were to do with popular game consoles such as PlayStation 5 and Xbox. Almost a third of victims were aged 20 to 29.
Action Fraud has launched a Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign, advising people to think before buying. And it asks people to report cons at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.
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