WEALTHY middle-aged professionals are the new victims of scams organised by international criminal gangs.

Doctors, lawyers and City professionals are just as likely to be stung by fraudsters as elderly people or manual workers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said yesterday as it published research showing that almost 30 million Britons are targeted by mass-marketing frauds each year.

One middle-aged victim lost thousands of pounds to fraudsters but refused to disclose his name to The Times because he was ashamed of “being taken for a ride”. He was duped by a “boiler room” scam where crooked share dealers based overseas sell worthless or fictitious shares to unwary investors. He said: “There is a comparatively new breed of Englishman operating from places like Spain who are extremely well spoken, very charming and sound very convincing in selling some dubious shares over the phone. Please do warn innocent and comparatively naive people about these English parasites.”

Vadim Yekelchik, 33, a database administrator from Walthamstow, northeast London, lost £100 after applying for a job as an interpreter. He said: “I completed an interview and I was asked to do a course and provide a £100 deposit. I soon realised it was a scam because the course was rubbish and required no exams.”

Mr Yekelchik unsuccessfully attempted to recover the money from the company in the small claims court, after his suspicions were aroused further when he was asked to be a part-owner of the business for a £5,000 fee. He said: “I felt angry. I would consider myself a careful person. This was not a get-rich scheme. It appeared as a genuine work opportunity.”

Jonathan Rusch, special counsel for fraud prevention at the US Department of Justice, yesterday pointed to the Netherlands, Spain and Nigeria as “backyard” countries from where fraudsters operated mass-marketing scams.

British consumers are estimated to lose about £1 billion a year to such frauds. The OFT study found that as many as one in ten middle-aged people had handed over cash to swindlers.

Mike Haley, head of the scambusters team at the OFT, said that the research “nailed the myth that victims were vulnerable and elderly people”.

The watchdog says that consumers are most aware of premium-rate telephone frauds, where victims are duped into calling an expensive telephone number, and prize draw scams. Unsolicited mailings advertising miracle cures and fake psychic services are also on the rise. More sophisticated scams include bogus investment schemes that entice victims into investing in fine art, wine and rare gems. The con artists use specialist marketing techniques that mimic legitimate businesses in order to snare their victims.

Mr Rusch yesterday called for the creation of “virtual task forces” to co-ordinate the activities of law enforcement agencies in different countries to tackle mass-marketing fraud.

The OFT has already taken action, publishing a pamphlet called Scambuster, Your Guide to Beating the Scammers, which details the various types of frauds and steps people can take to protect themselves.

TOP FRAUDS

Lottery scams Victims are told via the post, over the telephone or by e-mail that they are a prize draw winner or have won a lottery. Many approaches are attempts to trap people to part with their money

Phone scams Scammers use 090 numbers to offer people fake prizes. The longer a caller stays on the 090 number, the higher the charge

Letters predicting the future So-called psychics or clairvoyants promise predictions to change the course of someone’s life for a small fee. The names of those who send money are added to a “sucker” list

Pyramid selling Illegal “money-making” clubs that promise, for a joining fee, that members can earn large amounts by recruiting new people. Only those at the top make money

Work-from-home scams A registration fee is paid up front. Then there is either no work to do or no payment for completed work

Online dating scams A scammer creates a false personal profile and makes contact via an online dating agency to extract money from daters

Investment scams Con artists offer opportunities to put money into shares, wine, gemstones, or other “rare” high-value items. The items are often over-priced and difficult to sell on

Phishing A scam where internet fraudsters send spam or pop-up messages to lure personal and financial information from unsuspecting victims

Charity publishing Fake publishers call businesses and ask them for donations or to place adverts in charity booklets