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By Dan Ilett, 2 February 2006 10:15

NEWS

"I am looking for a trusted person to help transfer £100m in gold out of a secret account. In return you will keep £10m but you must tell nobody..."

Most people with email addresses have probably received an email like the one above - and the vast majority delete them straight off. But scams like this, which lure unwary internet users into parting with financial details or cash, are still finding victims.

The UK public is losing £1bn per year to scams, many of which use fake emails and websites. It is estimated five million Brits responded to scams last year.

In an attempt to fight back, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is promoting Scam Awareness Month, a scheme set up by the International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network.

As part of the effort, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and OFT have unveiled their strategies, including radio ads, quizzes and leaflet campaigns, to educate the public on scams and stop them from being duped.

In telling consumers to get wise, the government hopes con artists will find it tougher to operate.

John Fingleton, chief executive of the OFT, said: "Because it's so difficult to stop the supply of scams, it's important to tackle the demand. Scamming is big business - it brings untold harm and detriment to consumers.

"The internet and email have provided an opportunity to reach millions of people at little cost. It's a pretty cheap business to get into."

He added: "Although [online scams] are new, many of the scams are the same as before. We'll be coordinating a sweep of the internet and informing consumers how to stay safe online."

(Click here to see a photo of Gerry Sutcliffe, DTI minister for consumer affairs, and John Fingleton, chief executive of the Office of Fair Trading, at the launch of Scam Awareness Month.)

The OFT is also getting involved in an international internet sweep for scams, a programme led by the public-private sector anti-spam group, the London Action Plan and Trading Standards.

This sweep, according to the OFT, entails entering "certain" words into "certain" search engines and attempting to shut down any fraudulent websites it finds. But critics warned such a project is unlikely to be much of a barrier to scammers, who can operate from other countries with impunity.

Jason Hart, head of information security at consultancy WhiteHat UK, said: "Are they going to look at all the websites selling certain pharmaceutical goods?

"If they can do that, then good for them. Launching this is not going to stop scams and it won't have much clout in my opinion. You will only stop these scams by raising awareness."

Education has to go hand-in-hand with enforcement, something that is much harder.

Few scammers are stopped, Mike Haley, head of the OFT Scambusters team, admitted: "It's not been a high number but there have been some high-profile ones."

One online scam was stopped last year, when the OFT forced offline a company offering high-tech gadgets as a free gift in return for buying low-value products. But as Haley admits, this is one of a few cases that has succeeded.

Recent research from consumer watchdog Which? has found more than half of the British adult population has been targeted by scammers. Of these 28 million people, 23 million ignored the scams but five million responded.

Phone scams were found to be the most widespread, while eight per cent of the individuals surveyed said they had been targeted by email scams.

Scam Awareness Month is not law enforcement's first attempt to educate consumers on how to spot fraud. Last October, as part of another public sector initiative sponsored by business, the government launched the 'Get Safe Online' website, which offers simple instructions on how to use the internet and avoid being hacked or conned.

The European Union has also passed the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive but as yet the UK has not implemented this into domestic law.

The OFT has admitted that the international reach of scammers is difficult to combat but through working with business and law enforcement, it is trying to bridge the gap.

The OFT's Haley said: "A good example is we are talking with our own firewall provider to find out where the spam comes from. They have masses of information but not the powers so we are able to work together to get the people doing this."

But the government's efforts are still inadequate, said WhiteHat UK's Hart, as law enforcement is not prepared to deal with the rising number of online scams.

Hart said: "You have the government and you have technology - technology is five years ahead of the government. Should it be the government or law enforcement doing this? It should be law enforcement. The problem is that the government is in control over what happens in this country. Until there's a global body that can control scams, they will not stop."

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