While 28 million British consumers may have been the targets of various scams including fraudulent telemarketing, direct mail and e-mail offers, about 5 million respond to such offers, according to survey results released yesterday.
The survey of 1,050 UK consumers was conducted via face-to-face interviews by Which?, a consumer advocacy group and magazine publisher, in September.
Extrapolating from the sample’s responses, 34 percent of consumers received a fraudulent automated telephone call claiming that they won a prize, and 2 million responded. In addition, 33 percent have received direct mail scams. Other scams covered by the study were unrelated to direct marketing.
