POLICE in Cleveland want to educate the public about fraud as it emerged that residents were conned out of more than £800,000 in one month.

Latest available figures from Action Fraud – the national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime – show that in March of this year they received 165 reports from victims in the Cleveland Police area.

The crimes reported include telephone fraud, online scams and phishing – when fraudsters harvest personal details using email or text messages which often appear to be from legitimate organisations such as banks.

For the whole of March, Action Fraud received reports totalling £829,508 lost through fraud, with the typical loss for each victim being around £5,000.

Victims affected were aged between 15 and 88. Those aged 20 to 39 were the biggest group affected, forming 38 per cent of all reports.

In this group, fraud relating to online shopping and auctions was the most common cause for a report.

A fraud crime prevention evening is taking place on June 4 from 6.30pm at the Community Safety Hub, Cliffland Way, Middlesbrough to help residents avoid becoming a victim.