THE West Yorkshire Police Cybercrime team is supporting a national campaign on social media safety.

The national campaign in conjunction with City of London Police, Action Fraud and NPCC is being launched today and will run for two weeks until the beginning of April.

The ‘Secure your accounts’ campaign is about raising awareness of cybercrime and the simple steps everyone should take to secure their email and social media accounts.

Over 15,000 people reported falling victims to email or social media account hacking last year.

It is one of the fastest growing criminal activities across the world and can affect both individuals and businesses alike.

Cybercrimes can affect people in different ways. In most cases victims will feel worried and scared, which is why police are treating cybercrimes as ‘real world’ crimes and are prosecuted as such.

They say anyone can be a victim of cybercrime, including young person who feels they are being bullied or harassed online or an older person or a business who has been scammed out of money or important data.

Inspector Dan Tillett of WYP Cybercrime team has said: “It is important that we highlight how people can help to protect themselves from becoming a victim of cybercrime.

“We would advise to use strong passwords, such as three totally random words, whilst enabling two-factor authentication and not to disclose your passwords to anyone.

"We also advise keeping track of your social media privacy settings as personal information can be easily accessible to criminals on social media.”

Anyone who thinks they have been a victim of cybercrime, they can contact Action Fraud on 03001232040 or report a crime online at actionfraud.police.uk