A NEIGHBOURHOOD watch group has raised concerns over the increasing number of scams appearing online such as on social media.

The Breightmet Blackshaw Neighbourhood Watch is regularly alerted by its members, who point out fraud attempts that they have been sent.

Online fraud reports have shot up since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year as crooks increasing trying to catch out potential victims through emails and social media.

Watch group co-ordinator Chris Abalain said: "I often post a 'Scam of the week' on our page to help create awareness of the many different scams that affect people on Facebook, on the phone, on their email, or other ways.

"Facebook in particular has been open to many page scams where scammers create a page looking like the real company, but set up weeks ago, and then organise a fake contest where if you share their post they say they'll put you in a competition.

"But you just need to go to a link to enter your details, and of course they'll ask for all kinds of personal information.

"There is no winner really, except for the scammers.

"Our local WhatsApp group often has messages received by email or text from supposed banks or delivery companies, often they're not even a member of the bank or not expecting anything to be delivered.

"People who are vulnerable or who innocently believe these are true are at risk of being victims of fraud and theft.

"Thankfully groups like ours can raise awareness to our members so that fewer people fall victim to scams like these."

A recent survey found that more than a third of neighbourhood watch members in England and Wales are more concerned about cybercrime than physical crime.

And half of those asked think that the threat level is similar.

To demonstrate how rife online fraud is, Mr Abalain explains how he was only targeted by a scammer in the last few days.

He said: "I received an email myself just this week from someone saying they were DPD which said that 'due to a complete lack of address information, we have been unable to deliver to your address'. I was then offered two links to supposedly rearrange delivery.

"This one was caught by my spam filter, and luckily I can see the links are to a random web address totally unrelated to DPD."

A Facebook spokesman said: “There’s no place for fraud on Facebook. We continue to invest in people and technology to remove fraud from our platforms, and we have donated £3 million to Citizens Advice to deliver a UK Scam Action Programme.

"We urge people to report any suspicious activity to us.”

For more information about work that neighbourhood groups are doing to combat cyber crime visit http://bit.ly/35BNRtK.