Tech-savvy millennials hand over most cash to bank scam fraudsters

Millennials are falling victim to scams involving handing money to fraudsters more than any other age group, according to Lloyds Bank.

New data shows that victims aged 18 to 34 are losing £2,630 on average to the fraud, which typically involve scammers impersonating banking staff, the police or HM Revenues and Customs.

People over 55 are still handing over the most amount of money out of any age group – with £10,716 in the pockets of the fraudsters per scam on average – but saw a slowdown in the number of total scams.

Despite losing less money when scammed, more millennials have lost out financially, with the number of them being duped rising almost four-fold.

There are more than three times as many people aged between 45 and 54 being scammed out of money than those over 55, according to the new figures.

Lloyds revealed that people in this age group are being tricked out of an average of £3,573 per fraud.

Younger people are thought to be duped at a much faster rate than their peers because of their prevalence in using online banking, which has increasingly been utilised by scammers.

Greater awareness among older people is also thought to have driven fraudsters to new groups and tactics.

Paul Davis, retail fraud director at Lloyds Bank, said: “Helping to keep our customers’ money safe is our number one priority – being a victim of fraud can have devastating effects not just on people’s finances but also their lives.

“While we are working 24/7 behind the scenes to protect customers and millions of pounds have been frozen, every day fraudsters are trying to trick people into handing over their personal information like a PIN or password or transferring cash.”

The figures come as the bank launches a new multi-media campaign to crack down on scams, including a TV advert which will be aired on Monday.

Mr Davis added: “Our new campaign will help people to recognise the signs by reminding them that we will never call and ask them to move money to another account. The more we all know about spotting scams, the safer we will all be.”