Scammers defrauded NI victims out of £19m in a year

Victims of fraud in Northern Ireland reported losing a combined total of almost £19m to scammers over the past year, according to figures from Action Fraud.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) received more than 5,200 reports of fraud in the 12 months from 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2024.

One of the complainants reported they had lost more than £100,000 after receiving a call from a scammer who pretended they worked at their bank.

The fraudster convinced the victim there was suspicious activity on their account and persuaded them to move their savings as part of the scam.

The PSNI has warned the public to be cautious and report all scams to them to stop scammers stealing even more.

"Criminals don't care who they steal from, or consider the cruel impact of their crime," said PSNI Supt Joanne Gibson, chair of ScamwiseNI Partnership.

"Not only is there the financial impact, but losing money to fraud can also be really traumatic and emotionally distressing.

"For some people, it can be devastating," she added.

The PSNI said one victim transferred more than £50,000 to a fraudster after they were targeted by an online "romance scam".

The victim was tricked into sending the money when they were asked to help "with a business opportunity".

"It's sickening because people who have placed their trust in someone, or believed an opportunity to be genuine, discover in the most cruel way a criminal has stolen their money," Supt Gibson said.

This year's Action Fraud figures were released on the same day as the PSNI separately released its overall figures on recorded crime.

Its data showed that the number of crimes reported to the PSNI fell by almost 10% over the past year.

The PSNI said it recorded a total of 97,310 crimes in Northern Ireland between 1 December 2023 and 30 November 2024.

That was a decrease of 10,657 crimes (or 9.9%) when compared to the previous 12 months.

In fact, recorded crime was at its lowest level since lockdown rules severely restricted public movement at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Theft as a result of burglary was down significantly, falling almost 20% on the previous year.

Overall, recorded crime levels fell in each of the 11 policing districts, but Ards and North Down and Newry, Mourne and Down saw the percentage falls of 15.5% and 15% respectively.

However, there was an increase in the number of murders recorded across the year - they increased from nine in December 2022 to November 2023 to 15 murders in the past 12 months.

There was also a small increase in the number of shoplifting offences, with 64 more reports made by businesses compared to the previous year.