419 victims not greedy or stupid, says OFT

The government has proclaimed February 'scam awareness month' and is turning to the internet to help consumers avoid falling for offers that are literally too good to be true.

In an effort to cut the average over £1bn a year is conned out of the UK public, the Office of Fair Trading's head of international consumer regulation and enforcement, Mike Haley, advised consumers to be aware of the Netherlands national lottery and other scams.

The first clue that should warn consumers that they are being targeted by a scam is that the contact with the scammer will be unexpected, Haley said.

"All these scams have some things in common; firstly you'll get a call, email or letter out of the blue, something you are not expecting but to secure your win, your holiday, your good investment you will have to pay a fee up front: that's the sign that it is a scam."

Haley also advised consumers to keep their bank account details secret and be sceptical.

"Our advice is never ever to give out your personal banking information or to allow someone else to use your bank account... they will steal your bank account details, your identity and take all the money out of your account," he said. "You should be wary of any illegal easy money offers."

Haley added that hundreds of people including successful businesspeople had fallen for 419 scams and not all of them were stupid or greedy.

"[Scammers] sure are smart people, but it's not always the case that the victim is greedy. There is a scam for everyone, if we think its only other people that can be scammed, we let down our guard. Find out more information about the different ways that scam artists succeed - not just by appealing to greed," he said.

Haley advised scam victims to not be ashamed and contact the Citizens Advice Bureau, trading standards or the OFT.