CYBER crime has cost victims in Gwent £9 million since April last year, Gwent Police has revealed.

The force has received 3,316 reports of cyber-related crime since then, most related to online shopping and auctions, and hacking of social media and email - with £8.9m reported lost.

But the true figure is likely to be higher, as the Gwent Police cyber unit is quick to point out that the reported figures do not necessarily reflect the amount of cyber crime that occurs.

The age group most likely to report a cyber crime are 20-29 year olds, and 67 per cent of reports are from women.

Only nine per cent of calls came from businesses with 91 per cent coming from individuals.

“Cyber crime is hugely under reported due to victims often feeling embarrassed - however we’d like to emphasise the fact that cyber attacks can happen to any one of us,” said Detective Inspector Jamie Cooper.

“The more reports we receive, the more we can support and raise awareness of these online crimes.

“If you believe you are a victim of cyber crime, please report to Action Fraud”.

DI Cooper is part of the eight-strong Gwent Police cyber crime team, which comprises a detective inspector, detective sergeant, two DC/PC cyber investigators, two digital media investigators, a cyber protect officer, and a cyber community support officer (CSO).

“The team also works with organisations and individuals helping them to become more cyber resilient through guidance and workshops, as well as deterring people from engaging in cyber crime,” said DI Cooper.

“Our officers support the force in order to explore the digital investigative opportunities available, while our protect officer and cyber CSO deliver support and guidance helping to prevent our communities from becoming victims of this crime type.”

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To protect yourself and your business online, Gwent Police cyber protect officer has given these tips:

  • l Make a list of all the accounts you use online, old and new, so you can check the security settings;
  • l Avoid using family names, pet names and significant dates to create your passwords, and instead use a password manager - available in your app store - to create complex separate passwords to use across your accounts. The current advice from the National Cyber Security Centre is three random words;
  • l Combine the above with two-factor authentication. This is a way of checking that it is you trying to access the account. You should set this up on your email and social media accounts.
  • l Out-of-date apps and software contain weaknesses that updates will fix. Turn on auto updates so you don’t have to remember when to do it each time;.
  • l No matter how enticing and relevant links in emails and text messages may look, don’t click on them. Instead, use the organisation website to get in touch and check the communication.

Please remember to report suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and forward text messages to 7726.

If your business or community group is interested in holding a cyber awareness session, contact CyberCrimeUnit@gwent.police.uk

“Our team comes from a range of backgrounds, all with a shared compassion and drive to help our communities stay safe online and protect their personal or business information,” said DI Cooper.