Investment fraud cost county £5m in 2024 - police

More than £5m was lost to investment fraud across a county in 2024 new data has shown.

Suffolk Police said figures from Action Fraud showed that cryptocurrency fraud was on the rise in the area.

Anyone aged between 35-44 were most likely to be targeted and those aged 55-64 suffered the greatest financial losses, the data showed.

Det Sup Oliver Little said: "If it is too good to be true, it almost certainly is."

There were 233 cases across Suffolk last year, which totalled to £5.6m in losses.

"Investment fraud occurs when criminals approach individuals, often out of the blue, and persuade them to invest in schemes or products that are either worthless or entirely fictitious," the force added.

It said fraudsters claim opportunities in foreign exchange, gold, overseas time-shares or cryptocurrency, which promised "unrealistically high returns that far exceed normal market trends".

Det Sup Little, from the lead force operations room at the City of London Police, said: "It may seem obvious, but we would really emphasise the age-old 'if it is too good to be true, it almost certainly is' mantra.

"Investment fraudsters will often be incredibly skilled in what they do and will spin a convincing and alluring pitch of how much money they can make you, in often a short amount of time.

"Do not be seduced by the promise of making 'easy money', as the world of stocks and shares is anything but."

He advised people to carry out independent research and to check with a Financial Conduct Authority registered company.

"Never take financial advice via social media or from people who have approached you out of the blue.

"If it were that easy to make profit on an investment, we would all know about it."

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