THE risk of cybercrime is constantly growing.

Indeed, a report issued by Action Fraud - which is part of the National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre - found that that almost 21 million reports have been made to their Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS).

This directly resulted in the deletion of over 235,000 malicious websites.

SERS was established in April 2020 by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in partnership with City of London Police to provide a facility where the public could forward suspicious email communications to a simplified automated system working with Microsoft designed to scan for malicious links and content.

It’s now imperative to protect yourself – and others - from suspicious texts and emails.

How to protect yourself from scam texts…

Most phone providers now offer a facility for added protection to enable the receiver to report these suspicious communications, by forwarding them, for free, to the number 7726.

If you forward a text to 7726, your provider can investigate the origin of the text and arrange to block and ban from across the provider’s network, if it’s found to be malicious.

This service has proved to be a success with 54,000 text message scans being removed by May 31, 2023.

Commander Nik Adams, from City of London Police, commented: “Every year, thousands of people in the UK are scammed by a fraudulent email or text message.

“Phishing scams, whether it’s a text message claiming you have missed a delivery and are required to pay a redelivery fee, or an email claiming to be from your bank are a common security challenges that both individuals and businesses across the UK face on a daily basis.

“If you receive an email or text message that you think might be a scam, don’t respond to it or click any links in the message or email.

“Instead, contact the organisation directly using contact information from the company’s official website, and not the links or numbers provided in the message itself.”

If you think you have been a victim of fraud, report it to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.

The reporting of phishing scams and suspected fraud directly helps Action Fraud to identify and stop criminals.

How to protect yourself from scam emails…

If you have received an email or text that seems suspicious, please report it.

Your reports enable removal of the emails and websites criminals use to commit fraud and cyber crime.

Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk . Send emails to this address that feel suspicious, even if you're not certain they're a scam – they can check.

Be certain to take action…

Cybercriminals are constantly getting more sophisticated.

If you’ve lost money or provided personal information as a result of a phishing scam, notify your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.

And finally…

If you found this information useful, please do make sure that your friends and family are fully aware what to do.