'These three words could stop you from being a scam victim, as cases of rental fraud increase'

And, as Minister responsible I worry about the modern threats that young people face, including the very real prospect of fraud. The threat is there whenever we shop online, bank online, and increasingly for many people, when we look to rent new properties.

With Spring approaching, many young people will be looking for somewhere new to rent. Whether it’s a job in a new town, or a fresh university term, this is meant to be one of the most exciting times in any young person’s life.

But sadly, wherever we go to spend our money, fraudsters are never far away. And increasingly smart with how they use people’s eye for a bargain to get their guards down. We see it all the time with cheap offers of designer clothes, luxury holidays, or must-see concerts.

The prices are too good to miss, but sadly too good to be true. And now increasingly we’re seeing the same in the rental market. Fraudsters advertising properties that don’t exist or which aren’t theirs to rent. The offer is better than anything on the market, but there’s always a catch. Some say you can only do a viewing if you pay a deposit, others say they can’t hold it unless you pay a month’s rent upfront.

Last year, people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland lost around £9 million to those kinds of rental fraud in nearly 5,000 reported cases. And shockingly, new data published today tells us that 18-29 year olds accounted for around half those cases, while 30-39 year olds accounted for another quarter.

There could not be a better illustration of why the Government’s public education campaign is called: Stop! Think Fraud. No-one should be paying over money to a stranger until they’ve viewed the property they’re renting.

And if we stopped to think about why they’re demanding we do so, I’m sure most of us never would. There are many other types of scams that the Stop! Think Fraud website helps people understand. It’s full of advice on the tactics which the fraudsters use, and the actions we can all take to stop ourselves falling victim.

One of those is turning on two-step verification on all our devices and accounts, providing another layer of protection, rather than just one password. With an estimated 89% of fraud linked to cybercrime, we’re all more exposed to online scams than any other type of fraud.

And with advances in AI, a fake email or advertisement can be almost impossible to tell from the real thing. So there is no shame in falling victim, and no one should be embarrassed to tell the police or their bank that they’ve had money stolen.

That’s why we’re working with the police to replace the current Action Fraud service with a new and improved national reporting service for fraud and cyber crime. Reporting what’s happened is the first way to hit back at the criminals responsible for stealing the money we’ve worked hard to earn or save.

And as the first ever dedicated Minister for Fraud, it is my number one mission to get a grip of this issue, as part of the Government’s Plan for Change. But I’m not alone in that task. Together with the police, the banks, and our partners around the world, we must all do our part to prevent these crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice. And no group has a bigger role to play than the tech companies on whose platforms the majority of this criminality takes place.

I’ve made clear to those companies I expect them to go further and faster to protect their users from fraud, and I will hold them to that. But in the meantime, every one of us needs to be vigilant to the threats we face, whether we’re renting a property or booking a holiday.

Whenever you’re preparing to spend money or send money, my message is simple: be cautious, be alert and don’t be caught off guard. Staying protected could just take three simple words: Stop. Think. Fraud.