Calls to support vulnerable people from being scammed, including here in Dorset
A debate is being held today in Parliament
Last updated 28th Apr 2021
The debate in Parliament today is looking at ways to help protect vulnerable people from online scammers.
Since the start of the pandemic we've seen more people targeted for their money with criminals using various platforms to con thousands of pounds out of vulnerable people.
Cyber Protect Officer for Dorset Chris Conroy told us in 2020, £16.7 Million pounds was lost to fraud and cyber crime in the area and with being a relatively small county that's a significant sum of money to be losing.
Chris also told us the types of scams they see are so broad and varied:
"We see what we call social engineering techniques, Social engineering in a nutshell is trying to get somebody to act against their better judgement. So you short circuit their rational thoughts to get them to do something they usually wouldn't."
Things to look out for include postal scams, inheritance scams, job offer scams and emails with scam links.
Chris also said to keep an eye out for scams on social media:
"Messages out of the blue on Facebook messenger for example with somebody saying I need you to send me some money. People then send a chunk of money to what they believe to be a friend, but it turns out they've had their accounts taken over"
It comes a debate is being held today to talk through what more can be done to protect people.
The Westminster Hall debate today will be discussing regulating online harms, junk mail and nuisance calls.