Scams cost UK consumers at least £3.5bn last year, according to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). And the older you are, the more likely you are to lose money: older folk tend to have cash as well as being more trusting.

The OFT estimates 3 million UK consumers a year fall victim to scams sent by post, email, text or over the phone. But the real figure could be much higher – many victims fail to report losses, often due to embarrassment.

Today is the first day of the OFT’s scams awareness month designed to raise awareness of mass marketed scams. The consumer watchdog is setting up a nationwide “Scamnesty” scheme, which calls on consumers to drop scam mailings into scamnesty bins or boxes at local libraries and public areas across the country. The OFT says the information collected will help identify and develop strategies to combat the worst criminals.

So what are the scams most likely to catch people out? Here is our top 10.

1. Homeworking scams

Credit-crunched people turning to part-time work to help balance budgets need to watch out. Homeworking scamsters advertise “easy earnings” in return for cash. But all they send out is a leaflet telling people to advertise “easy earnings” schemes. Others promise big rewards for packing goods – they take the money upfront and victims never see any earnings, even if they are conned into packing goods.

2. Racing tipsters

Many tipsters try to find winners, but some offer “guaranteed” tips which turn into a regular income in return for a fee. Except they don’t. Others ask you to put money on horses for them in return for a 50% share of winnings, while promising to recompense losing bets. The only safe bet is that you won’t see your money again.

3. Bogus foreign lotteries

You receive a letter from Spain saying you have won a million euros in a lottery you have never heard of, let alone entered. The fraudsters demand you send some money to “unlock the cash”. And then some more. There is no prize – victims can lose tens of thousands of pounds.

4. Landbanking

Fraudsters buy a field, divide it into tiny slices and sell each one for big money – usually £10,000 – by convincing victims the land will soon get planning permission. The land never gets planning consent and the landbankers disappear with your money, leaving you with valueless land.

5. Pyramid schemes

A classic pyramid scheme involves getting lots of people to invest small amounts of money and offering them a reward for every new recruit they sign up. For example, you might be invited to invest £3,000 of your own money and asked to recruit seven other investors who will pay you £3,000 each. You now have £21,000. The incentive for your friends is that they are “allowed” to go out and each recruit seven other investors so they get £21,000 as well. It is illegal and people soon run out of friends to con.

6. Business opportunity scams

Here you are offered a “franchise” or other business idea in return for thousands of pounds in fees. The attraction is along the lines of “thousands of pounds a month without leaving the comfort of your armchair.” The idea is usually rubbish and the originator runs off with your money.

7. Phoney jobs

Another credit crunch special. Websites promise jobs with high pay for an hour’s work a day for those with no experience or skills. The first snag is you have to send substantial cash sums for the application form upfront. The second snag is that the job does not exist.

8. Bouncing cheques

Advertise your car or motorbike in a legitimate website or publication and you could get someone offering you more than you ask for. They will back this up by sending you a “certified cheque” or “banker’s draft” for the cash. By the time you discover the cheque is a forgery your vehicle is halfway across Europe. Many insurers will not pay out for “theft by deception”.

9. Boiler room investment frauds

Very persuasive salespeople call you up – usually from abroad – to offer you sure-fire share investments. The shares, if they exist at all, are overpriced by up to 100 times. And it is impossible to sell them. It is easy to lose £20,000 or more.

10. Phishing

This is nothing to do with angling! Fraudsters send emails purporting to come from your bank’s security department, asking you for your log-in, password and other personal details. Once they have these they loot your account. No legitimate bank ever asks for these details. And banks are getting tougher with victims, telling some they will not be recompensed for their losses because, by now, everyone should know about this racket.

Tony Levene is the author of How to avoid scams (Age Concern £9.99)

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