Research from Equiniti, a leading RegTech provider, shows that people in London and Scotland are more likely to be victims of cybercrime than those living elsewhere in the UK.

The nationally representative poll, carried out in partnership with YouGov, asked 2,100 people whether they had been victims of financial crime. Results revealed that occurrences of cybercrime varied largely by where the respondent lives.

Around one in three (30%) Londoners said they had been victims of cybercrime, while that number dropped to around one in four (24%) nationally and as low as one in five (21%) in the North. Other cybercrime hotspots were the Scotland and the East of England, where more than the national average said they were victims (25%).

The other major factor that effected the findings was age, with those aged 18-24 considerably less likely to be victims (13%) than any other age group.

Gender had very little effect on the likelihood of being victimised, with 23% of men and 24% of women targeted.

Alistair Blaxill, MD at Equiniti, said, “Online and mobile banking are becoming a part of everyday life, but rising crime levels show people are still learning how to protect themselves. We all take instinctive steps to protect ourselves every day, whether locking the car or house or looking before you cross the road, and we need to develop those habits online as well.

Companies are investing a huge amount in online security to help their customers, as they should, but in order to benefit from the convenience of online life, individuals should develop good habits. Using a variety of strong passwords or making the use of the latest technology like voice and fingerprint recognition will certainly help. These tools are no longer the technology of the future and will help keep us all safer online.”