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A new study has analyzed ONS data on how many different age groups shop online to identify areas most at risk of scams.

Payback Ltd also looked at the age of the population in over 300 UK local authorities to gather their findings.

With 90.68% of people over 18 in the borough likely to shop online during the year, Tower Hamlets is the population most exposed to online shopping scams.

The borough has one of the largest proportions of people between the ages of 25 and 34, who make up a third of the population over the age of 18. ONS figures show that 99% of people in this age group shop online – the highest rate in the UK, helping to make Tower Hamlets the area most prone to online scams.

The study identified £76.4million stemming from online shopping scams with 98,259 cases reported to police. The highest case was seen in January 2021, which saw £10,000 donated through fraud schemes.

Islington is the next high risk area for online shopping fraud, with 90.22% of its total population likely to shop online this year. Of the 195,462 people over 18 in the borough, 34% are between the ages of 25 and 34 – the highest percentage in the country.

Third in line is Manchester, whose online shopping population of 367,374 means that 89.67% of the population could be exposed to harmful online activity when shopping online. More than one in five people in Manchester (21%) are aged 18-24, with ONS figures indicating this age group is the second most likely to shop online, with 96% doing so regularly.

Hackney comes fourth with 89.65% of its population ready to shop online this year. The fifth most at-risk area is Lambeth, with 89.49% of its population regularly shopping online.

The 10 UK regions most at risk from online shopping scams

North Norfolk has been identified as the area with the lowest risk of internet scams this year, with 80.60% of its population ready to shop online this year. This is due to people over the age of 55, who make up almost half of the population – 79% of people aged 55-64 have ever shopped online, while this figure drops to 65% for people over 65 years old.

Top 3 UK Regions Least Prone to Online Shopping Scams

North Norfolk was followed by Rother and East Lindsey, both of which have 80.86% of their population ready to shop online this year.

The fourth lowest risk area was West Devon, with 81.16% of its population scrolling online to shop.

This left South Hams as the fifth least exposed area to online scam activity – 81.17% of its residents are likely to shop online this year.

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