Britons lost £177.6m to impersonation scams in 2022: ‘Fraudsters have improved their tricks’

The figures were released during Take Five Week, which encourages people to pause to think before transferring money or handing over personal details

File. Scams often start with a call, text, email or direct message with an urgent request for money or personal and financial information (PA Archive)

Some £177.6m was lost to impersonation scams last year, with more than 45,000 cases reported, according to a finance industry trade body.

UK Finance, which leads the Take Five campaign, highlighting the dangers of fraud, said there were 45,367 cases of this type of fraud in 2022.

The figures were released during Take Five Week -- 17 April to 21 April.