47% percent of people in Manchester have been targeted by a scam, according to new research by Microsoft.
This is expected to rise as Christmas approaches and money becomes tighter, with 57% of the city’s population saying that their finances are tighter than this time last year.
Some of the most common scams are delivery scams, which account for 34% of all scams in the area, and banking impersonation, which accounts for 22%.
Love Island star Amy Hart is one of the people who is leading a campaign to reduce the amount of scams after she was scammed by someone pretending to be her bank’s fraud line in 2022.
She said, “Christmas is coming up. You might get texts saying you’ve received a package. It’s a really hot time for scams.”
Someone who has been affected by a scam in the last year is University of Salford Student Millie who was scammed at the University’s freshers fair. She said “I walked into the fair and was presented a QR code by someone who was posing as someone from the fair. I scanned it and it took me to a website which I then believed was real so I entered my details into it. I then realised I had been scammed and had to cancel all of my cards”
63% of Mancunians believe scams are rising, and one factor in that could be the rise of AI. Half of scams now involve AI, according to investigative body Feezai, including phone call scams which can now be fully done by an AI voice which can sometimes replicate a family member or friend. 59% of people however are aware AI can mimic friends or family and believe they would be able to spot this scam.
Text messages are also still a very popular scam, and student Will has constantly received messages over the last year. He said, “ I keep receiving messages saying that my heating bills are going down or Evri are trying to deliver a package from non-English numbers or emails. I haven’t ordered anything from Evri to warrant these texts, so it’s very clearly a scam”
If you or someone else falls victim to a scam over Christmas you can report it to Greater Manchester Police’s Action Fraud service online or on by calling 03000 123 2040.