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Cyber criminals cheat Cumbrian's out of

A police report has revealed that people in Cumbria have been defrauded out of a total of £200,000 through online scams this year.

Police who monitor the internet say they receive between ten and 15 complaints a week from web users who have had money stolen by internet crooks.

Speaking to the North West Evening Mail Detective Constable Steve Fawcett, who helps fight online crime, said: "When I first started in this job we only had about one enquiry a week, but now it's up between ten and 15 so there's been a massive increase."

"People will probably only report something if they are losing around £200, but if somebody has paid money for car they never see you're talking about £4-5,000," he said.

He added that people are often being fleeced by fraudsters when they use sites like ebay but don't use the official method of payment.

"Emails saying you've money so please give your bank details are still very, very common," he said, adding that one is being sent to companies claiming it will donate money to charity if bank details are handed over.

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