Nearly one in five (17 per cent) Brits fell victim to a scam or fraud in the last year, with just under a third (29 per cent) losing money as a result.

And while the average woman lost £1,133, men lost £2,780 on average, according to the survey from Phoenix Group.

Overall, the average amount of money UK consumers lost to scams was £1,988 per person, rising to £4,073 for those aged over 55.

Worryingly, one in ten (11 per cent) victims did not take any action after they’d been scammed.

Only a third alerted their bank (34 per cent) or reported the activity to authorities (33 per cent), 21 per cent told their friends and family and less than half (44 per cent) changed their personal details such as passwords.

Tommy Burns, risk and financial crime manager at Phoenix Group, said: “There’s been a flurry of scams in the last year, with fraudsters taking advantage of the pandemic to target an increasing number of victims. Many people are losing significant amounts of money to scammers, yet not all victims take action and report suspicious activity, leaving themselves and others susceptible to further fraudulent activity.

“For victims of financial fraud, the first port of call should be to inform their service provider who can take whatever steps are possible to protect their money. Anyone that has been scammed online should change passwords so that scammers can’t infiltrate other accounts too. Reporting the activity to the relevant authorities will help prevent similar activity happening again and flagging to family and friends will increase awareness around the topic, and hopefully protect others in future.”

The research also found that more than a third (36 per cent) of the UK public have received unsolicited financial advice in the last 12 months, 47 per cent of whom thought it was suspicious or not legitimate.