CONSUMER watchdogs have identified the ten most widespread frauds perpetrated against the British public.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has published details of the hoaxes in an attempt to alert the public to swindles that cost consumers £1 billion a year.

At the start of a month-long awareness campaign, fair trading officials said that they had joined forces with law-enforcement agencies around the world.

Christine Wade, who is the director of consumer regulation enforcement at the OFT, said: “Scammers are resourceful, enterprising and manipulative.

“By exploiting the same routes to market as legitimate businesses, they damage not only individual consumers but the interests of fair-trading businesses as well.

Many of the ploys originate overseas, making detection and prosecution difficult.

Since linking up with agencies in more than 30 countries the OFT has had some success in tracking down the criminals.

Last October, for example, joint investigations with police in both the United States and Canada helped to lead to more than a hundred arrests of telemarketing fraudsters in America and 35 in other countries.

The OFT estimates that telephone lottery scams could net fraudsters up to £150 million a year.

The Department for Trade and Industry calculates that investment-related scams may cost the public about £350 million.

Consumers are being advised to be wary of a number of approaches.

DIFFERENT SCAMS, SAME RESULT

• Telephone lottery scams
  Crooks use the names of genuine lotteries, such as the Canadian lottery, to entice people to respond to an unsolicited letter or telephone call telling them that they are being entered into a prize draw. Later the unsuspecting member of the public receives a phone call congratulating them on a big win. However, respondents must send money to pay for taxes and processing fees before they can claim their prize, which is non-existent.

• Prize draw, sweepstakes and foreign lottery mailings
  Many typical scams are similar to the telephone lottery dodge. Most appear to be notification of a prize in an overseas draw in return for substantial fees.

• Premium rate telephone number scams
  Consumers should beware of notification by post of a win in a sweepstake or a holiday offer that includes instructions to ring an 090 number.

• Investment-related scams
  Unsolicited phone calls offering the opportunity to invest in shares, fine wine or gemstones should be treated with caution.
  
  
• Nigerian advance fee frauds
  Perpetrators of advance fee swindles offer to share a huge sum of money in return for using the recipient’s bank account to transfer the money out of the country. These requests often come via e-mail and people who fall victim find their account emptied.

• Pyramid schemes
  Investors who sign up to pyramid schemes are misled about the likely returns. The profit is based on the number of new recruits to the plan but only the people who set it up are able to make any money.

• Matrix schemes
  Bogus websites offering expensive high-tech gadgets in return for spending money on a cheap product leave the consumer on a waiting list to receive their free gift. In reality, the majority of people on the list will never receive the promised item.

• Credit scams
  Consumers who reply to newspaper advertisements for fast-track loans are told they must pay an upfront fee. Once this is handed over the consumer never hears from the company again.

• Property investment schemes
  Potential investors attend a presentation and are duped into parting with thousands of pounds for a course.

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