AS the UK prepares to spend billions of pounds online over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, new research has revealed the true extent of losses incurred from cybercrime in the past 12 months.

Data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau shows police forces across the country dealt with 54,574 incidents of cybercrime between October 2023 and November 2024, with associated losses of £6-million.

England saw the lion’s share of reports, with English forces dealing with 50,004 of the total incidents, accounting for £5.2 million of the overall losses. Wales came second nationally with 1,765 reports and losses of £14.2k in total.

Here in the South West, Devon and Cornwall Police reported the highest financial losses with £110.1k over 1,100 incidents. Avon and Somerset Police had the highest number of incidents in the region with 1,278 reports.

Regionally, Yorkshire and the Humber had the highest total losses with £1.9 million reported taken through cybercrime. This was followed by London with £856.1k and the South East with £806.2k.

Anthony McAteer of Storage Vault, who have analysed the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau data, said: “We’re approaching the part of the year where we spend the most collectively, and while it’s easy to be distracted by the festive season, people need to make sure they’re remaining aware of the risks when they’re searching for gifts for their friends and family.

“There are a lot of reasons that contribute to us increasingly living our lives online, both privately and while at work, but just because we’re operating in a digital space, it doesn’t mean there aren’t threats we need to be aware of.

“We see customers who prefer to store paper records of their information securely, for the simple reason that it can be a simpler option than securing it against digital attacks.”