New figures reveal over 22,000 reports of scams were made to the Citizens Advice service in England and Wales the last 12 months. Yet many fail to report if they have been ripped-off.

According to the Office of Fair Trading almost half of us (48%) are targeted by scams with 3 million falling victim to cons costing individuals a total of £3.5bn a year.

An analysis of the Citizens Advice scams scanner – which has tracked cons since 2007 – revealed opportunistic con artists are targeting people who have fallen on hard times with offers of phoney jobs, training and debt scams. The double-dupe scams which have emerged during the recession are:

Training and job ploys: paying for a phantom training course with the false promise of a job or working on a commission basis only to find the firm is a fake and they don’t make any money.

Dangerous debt help: offers of loans or help to clear debts which carries an upfront fee but they never get a loan or help to sort out their debts.

Citizens Advice is also concerned that rogues will seek to profit from changes to the benefit system, particularly with the introduction to the so-called bedroom tax and localisation of council tax benefit. Evidence shows that, in the past, people have been ripped off by fake landlords who take deposits for properties that don’t exist or aren’t available for rent and rogues have targeted people looking to reduce their council tax bill by charging for rebanding that doesn’t happen.

Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said: “Scammers have never had it so good as they exploit difficult economic times. For most people the recession has been really tough but it’s a different story for rogues and tricksters as they’ve cashed in on other people’s misfortune. We’re seeing people who have been dealt a double blow by losing their job and then losing money while trying to find a new one.

“This month we are warning people to be on the look out for rogues looking to make a quick buck at their expense and reminding that scams are crimes so it is vital they are reported.”

How to protect yourself better

• Never give out contact details like your name, phone number or address to strangers or to people who should have this information already.

• Never give financial information or details of your identity, bank accounts or credit card to strangers or to businesses that should already hold your details.

• Shred anything with your personal or bank details on – don’t just throw it away.

• If in doubt, don’t reply. Bin it, delete it or hang up.

• Persuasive sales patter? Just say: “No thank you.”

• Resist pressure to make a decision straight away.

• Never send money to someone you don’t know.

• Walk away from job adverts that ask for money in advance.

• Ask friends, neighbours or family about whether an offer is likely to be a scam.