SCAMMERS are enjoying a "double-dupe recession" as they prey on people struggling to find work or battling with money problems, says Chelmsford CAB.
New figures reveal more than 22,000 reports of scams were made to the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) in England and Wales in the last 12 months, yet the CAB said many fail to report if they have been ripped off.
According to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) almost 48 per cent of people are targeted by scams, with three million falling victim to cons costing individuals a total of £3.5 billion a year.
May marks the start of Scams Awareness Month and Essex County Council Trading Standards and Chelmsford CAB want to raise awareness about scams which are in operation throughout the country.
A Chelmsford man who outwitted a fraudster in February was Chris Burt, 64, who was surprised to find a TomTom SatNav had been delivered to his home in Great Cobb, Springfield.
He contacted the mail order company to tell them the TomTom had been delivered by mistake and that he was going to send it back by post.
So when a man posing as a delivery guy turned up the next day to collect the TomTom he was immediately suspicious and asked to see his ID.
At that point the man returned to his car and drove off without the TomTom.
The fraudster had set up a false account with online shopping website Isme using Mr Burt's details to purchase the SatNav.
Mr Burt said: "My general observation of scams is that people are not willing to get involved in anything that is suspicious and if they see someone in trouble or a crime going on they would much prefer they don't see it.
"But the other side to it is they always want people to help them if they were in trouble themselves.
"It is almost a mental choice to get involved if you possibly can, because if you don't then nothing good can happen."
Scams are schemes to con people out of their money and they can be carried out in a number of ways, by post, phone, e-mail, online or sometimes via a knock on the door.
Scams take different forms such as fake lotteries, prize draws, bogus health cures, and dodgy investment schemes.
Malcolm Shead, head of Essex County Council Trading Standards, said: "Scams are still very much an unreported and hidden crime.
"People feel embarrassed to admit they have been conned but people from all walks of life fall victim to these crimes and it is estimated that nearly half of people in the UK have been targeted by a scam.
"New scams are emerging all the time but the best piece of advice our team can give is 'If it sounds too good to be true it probably is'."
An analysis of the national Citizens Advice scams scanner, which has tracked cons since 2007, revealed opportunistic con artists are targeting people who have fallen on hard times with offers of phoney jobs, training and debt scams.
The "double dupe" scams include offering to pay for a phantom training course with the false promise of a job, and loan offers or help to clear debts which carries an up-front fee.
Chelmsford Citizens Advice Bureau is also concerned that rogues will seek to profit from changes to the benefit system, particularly with the introduction to the so-called bedroom tax and localisation of council tax benefit.
Evidence collected by Chelmsford CAB shows that, in the past, people have been ripped off by fake landlords who take deposits for properties that don't exist or aren't available for rent.
Russell Mynott, from Chelmsford Citizens Advice Bureau, said: "Rogues are cashing in on people's job and money troubles.
"The difficult economic times have been tough for many people in Chelmsford but con artists have found a way to thrive.
"We're seeing people who have been dealt a double blow by losing their job and then losing money while trying to find a new one.
"This month we are warning people to be on the look out for rogues looking to make a quick buck at their expense and reminding that scams are crimes so it is vital they are reported."
