Yahoo Finance Coronavirus: Brits could lose £1.7bn to cybercrime in November lockdown
Brits could lose £1.7m ($2.2m) to hackers in November as cyber crime increases over lockdown, according to a study.
If rates of cyber crime cases and monetary loss match the UK's last lockdown, victims could lose £1.7m across 2,947 cases of cybercrime in November, retailer GAME found.
Action Fraud and regional police force data shows there was an 87.5% increase in cases of cybercrime between March and April,
About 3,000 cases were reported in April, up from 1,600 the previous month.
What's more, monetary losses also shot up a massive 564%, the data shows.
READ MORE: Most cyber crime cases are closed with no suspect identified, report says
As entire industries and life moved online, cybercrime shot up, peaking with the surge of less experienced users and digital fraud awareness.
The top scam-related searches on Google were about Paypal scams – up 49% – and Amazon scams – up 84% – showing people making online purchases were targeted.
Brits lose about £8m a year to hacking criminals who commit fraud and extortion.
“As more of us spend time online, [these] new figures reinforce the need for us to further improve security around our personal data,” GAME said.
The research also found London is the UK's hacking hotspot, with 4,348 reported cases over the past 12 months.
Hacking crime in the capital has cost victims a whopping £4m in the last year, with criminals targeting victims through social media and email, personal computers and extortion.
The west midlands saw £727,100 lost to 1,993 cases, placing the region in second place in the index.
It is followed is the south-east where residents lost £534,900 to 2,819 cases.
At the other end of the scale, Guernsey and the Isle of Man has just 10 and four cases, respectively, resulting in no monetary losses for either.
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