CONCERNS have been raised that elderly people - forced to use the internet more often due to lockdown, are falling prey to fraudsters.

At a meeting of West Yorkshire's Police and Crime Panel yesterday, Wakefield Councillor Jacqueline Williams raised the issue of online fraud being on the rise in recent months.

She said: "People are new to social media - using it for the first time to talk to families - and are now being targeted by online fraudsters. How do we get the message out to people who are not Au Fait with modern technology?"

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Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns Williamson said that many people were using technology to work from home, and this applied to criminals too. He said online fraud was a national issue, and had no boundaries.

The force had done work to raise awareness of the types of online fraud that criminals were using.

Deputy Chief Constable Russ Foster said financial institutions also had their part to play in preventing fraud and protecting vulnerable people.