Pollster Find Out Now and election experts Electoral Calculus have run a poll for the Daily Telegraph on the public's attitudes to fraud. The poll surveyed 2,105 respondents online and was carried out on 14 February 2022.
The poll asked GB residents various questions about fraud.
In summary:
The questions and their responses are given in the sections below.
We asked people whether they thought the government was doing enought to tackle fraud.
| All respondents | Con voters | Lab voters | Lib Dem voters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| More than enough | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| About enough | 5% | 9% | 4% | 4% |
| Less than enough | 58% | 60% | 62% | 70% |
| Don't know | 33% | 28% | 31% | 25% |
| Prefer not to say | 3% | 3% | 3% | 1% |
A clear majority (58%) think the government is not doing enough. Only 6% think the government is doing enough, with many other undecided. Opinion does not vary very much by party preference at the 2019 general election.
We also asked people if they thought the police are doing enough.
| All respondents | Age 18-24 | Age 65+ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| More than enough | 1% | 0% | 1% |
| About enough | 8% | 6% | 8% |
| Less than enough | 56% | 49% | 71% |
| Don't know | 32% | 39% | 19% |
| Prefer not to say | 3% | 6% | 0% |
Another clear majority (56%) of the public think the police are not doing enough to tackle fraud. Only 9% of the public think that they are, with about one third undecided. Among the over-65s, a substantial 71% of people think the police are not doing enough.
We then asked a direct question of each respondent to see if they had been a victim of fraud in the last twelve months.
| All respondents | London | West Midlands | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 9% | 13% | 6% |
| No | 86% | 82% | 91% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% | 6% | 3% |
A significant number, 9% of the population say they have been a fraud victim in the last year. Extrapolating to all adults in the country, that would suggest over four million fraud crimes each year.
We asked people how many scam text messages they receive every month.
| All respondents | Age 18-24 | Age 65+ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | 6% | 5% | 10% |
| Less than one | 12% | 13% | 10% |
| One to three | 33% | 42% | 27% |
| Three to ten | 25% | 19% | 28% |
| More than ten | 13% | 10% | 16% |
| Don't know | 7% | 5% | 8% |
| Prefer not to say | 3% | 7% | 1% |
Most people receive at least one scam text message each month, with over one person in three receiving at least three scam texts. That figure rose to 44% for those aged over 65.
Finally we asked people how many scam emails they receive each month.
| All respondents | Age 18-24 | Age 65+ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | 4% | 5% | 7% |
| Less than one | 7% | 7% | 8% |
| One to three | 14% | 11% | 19% |
| Three to ten | 22% | 20% | 28% |
| More than ten | 40% | 43% | 29% |
| Don't know | 9% | 10% | 8% |
| Prefer not to say | 3% | 6% | 1% |
Most people receive at least three scam emails each month, with 40% of people receiving at least ten. Very few people (11%) received less than one scam email each month.
The last three questions were only asked to people who responded 'Yes' to Q3. This was a sample of 328 people (with an effective sample size of 221). Uncertainty in the stated percentages is much higher than usual, because the sample is relatively small.
In this question, we asked people who have already said that they were victims of fraud about what type of fraud they experienced.
| All respondents | |
|---|---|
| Credit/bank card | 40% |
| Internet scam | 24% |
| Other | 11% |
| Text message scam | 9% |
| Fake goods | 5% |
| Identity theft | 4% |
| I have not been a victim of fraud | 2% |
| Doorstop con | 1% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% |
The most common type of fraud was credit card or bank fraud, with internet scams as the second most common type.
Next we asked about the size of the loss due to fraud.
| All respondents | |
|---|---|
| Less than £100 | 41% |
| Between £100 and £500 | 26% |
| Between £500 and £1000 | 8% |
| More than £1000 | 8% |
| I have not been a victim of fraud | 2% |
| Don't know | 3% |
| Prefer not to say/no reply | 13% |
The most common amount of loss is less than £100, with most people losing less than £500. But 16% of victims lost more than £500 due to fraud.
Finally we asked fraud victims if they reported the fraud to the Police.
| All respondents | |
|---|---|
| No | 66% |
| Yes | 24% |
| Prefer not to say/no reply | 10% |
A large majority of fraud victims did not report the fraud to the Police.
Chris Holbrook, CEO of Find Out Now: "It's alarming that nearly 1 in 10 of us report being a victim of fraud in the last year. As digital media has grown, so have the opportunities to deceive and steal, and the reliance on consumers' personal vigilance seems an increasingly inadequate approach to solving the problem. I think it's also important to remember that many businesses are also victimised by imposters, leaving them with the consumer service headache and trashed reputations."
Martin Baxter, CEO of Electoral Calculus: "Our poll shows that fraud is quite widespread and the public don't think the government and police are doing enough about it. There is a dangerous disconnect between people's experiences and the criminal justice system which is perceived as ignoring this substantial problem."
Find Out Now polled 2,105 GB adults online on 14 February 2022. The sample was weighted to be representative by gender, age, social grade, other demographics and past voting patterns. Find Out Now and Electoral Calculus are both members of the British Polling Council and abide by its rules.
Full data tables are here.