Gone phishing? North west most vigilant against online scams

Beware of scams

The north west is the most likely region in the UK to search for information to identify online scams, new data released on Tuesday (23 July) shows.

Analysis from data analytics company SEMrush found the north west was the region most likely to search for information such as ‘is this a phishing email?’ and associated terms, some 23% higher than the West Midlands and 27% more than the East of England, the next most likely areas to search for information about potential online fraud. 

The analysis found that there has been a 6% increase year-on-year in the number of people looking for information about phishing scams online, indicating an increase in the number of emails being identified, but also raising vigilance on potential fraud from people around the country. 

The search data also highlighted there has been a steady growth over the past four years in the number of people searching for terms associated with online scammers, from ‘email cons/ scams’ to ‘have I been phished’. Overall there has been a 19% increase in searches for these terms since 2016.

The analysis follows a number of high-profile campaigns raising the awareness of online fraud including Citizen Advice’s recent Scan Awareness week, and social media providers recently introducing new measures to make it easier for users to flag potential scammers online.

Olga Andrienko, Head of Global Marketing at SEMrush, commented: “These search trends indicate an increased vigilance and awareness among the British public when it comes to online scams, especially email phishing attempts.

“Following a number of awareness-raising campaigns, seeing so many people looking online for verification and information on current scams is a solid gauge that people are becoming savvier to online fraud.

“However, constant vigilance is necessary from the public as online scammers can be very quick to change their approaches and schemes when they stop being as effective.”