FRAUDSTERS have fleeced more than £20million from people living in Cheshire during the coronavirus pandemic

Criminals have taken advantage of the rise in internet shopping, as well as concerns over health and wellbeing through the crisis, according to fraud and cyber-crime authority Action Fraud.

In Cheshire, 7,209 incidents of fraud and cyber-crime were reported from the start of February last year to the end of March this year, Action Fraud data reveals.

The value of the crimes amounted to £24.3million – the equivalent of around £5,731 each day.

Cheshire's figure could be higher still, with some 23,600 reported offences worth £469.4million not recorded to a specific police force area.

Across Great Britain, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, 448,700 reports of fraud and cyber-crime were made to Action Fraud over the 14-month period, with victims’ losses totalling £1.9billion.

Online shopping scams were most common type of fraud and cyber-crime, along with banking and advance fee fraud frauds.

A spokesperson for Action Fraud said: “In what has been an incredibly challenging year, we have sadly seen devious criminals taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic as a means to commit fraud.

“To carry out their scams, criminals have been honing in on people’s anxieties and the changes that have occurred to our daily lives, such as the fact we have all been shopping online more.”

The Action Fraud figures also show the age of victims in the reported fraud and cyber-crime offences over the 14-month period from February last year.

In Cheshire, the most commonly targeted age group was 20 to 29-year-olds, with around 1,200 reported victims making up 17 per cent of all those who gave an age.

There were some 2,000 reports with victims aged 60 and over (28 per cent), including 34 aged between 90 and 99.