31 October 2024

New research has revealed the UK areas most at risk of cybercrime, with Bedfordshire coming out on top.

The study by Freename analysed the latest data from the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre to see which UK police forces reported the highest levels of cybercrime as a percentage of all cybercrime and fraud reporting in the past 12 months.

In the areas of the UK most at risk, it found that Bedfordshire was the most at risk of cybercrime.

Of the total 6,901 cases reported to Bedfordshire Police, 2,918 or 42.28% were cybercrimes. Cleveland takes second place on the list, with Cleveland Police reporting 2,527 fraud and cybercrimes in the past 12 months, with 456 or 18.05%, being cybercrimes. Coming in third place is Staffordshire. Staffordshire Police data shows that of the 6,332 total fraud and cyber-crimes reported in the past 12 months, 1,025 or 16.19%, were cybercrimes.

“Scams in general are getting a lot more sophisticated these days, with many attempting to manipulate victims by disguising themselves as platforms we use every day,” said commenting on the findings, Davide Vicini, CEO at Freename. “This, alongside some scammers even beginning to use AI to trick people, is an important reason to stay vigilant online, and this can be done by doing things like double-checking links you click, keeping strong passwords, and always attempting to find as much information as possible about who is using your data.”