Fraudsters are cashing in on the coronavirus crisis, with victims’ losses totalling more than £800,000 in a month.

One person told police they had lost more than £15,000 after buying protective face masks which were never delivered.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has already identified 21 reports of fraud where coronavirus was mentioned since February.

Police are warning numbers of scams are set to rise as the deadly virus spreads across the world.

The figure includes ten scams where victims tried to buy protective masks from fraudsters.

Other reports involved coronavirus-themed phishing emails designed to trick people into opening malicious attachments or revealing sensitive information.

A common tactic used by scammers is to send messages purporting to be from research groups linked with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

They claim to be able to provide a list of people infected with Covid-19, which links to a malicious website or ask the victim to make a payment in Bitcoin.

The City of London Police advised: “Don’t click on the links or attachments in suspicious emails and never respond to unsolicited messages and calls that ask for your personal or financial details.”

By Henry Vaughan