As in previous years, the media office at the OFT is co-ordinating the 'Scamnesty' campaign, so Infosecurity readers can expect TV and print publications to have stories in connection with the campaign.

According to the OFT, almost 50% of the UK's adult population has been hit by a scam of some sort, and one in 15 people - three million adults - in the UK today fall victim to the growing problem every year.

The OFT says that mass marketed scams are a problem in the UK and can take the form of bogus and fraudulent offers sent by post, telephone or email.

"Fake lottery and prize draw wins, bogus psychic predictions, get-rich-quick investment cons and 'miracle' health cures are just some of the tricks used by scammers", says the OFT.

It's against this backdrop that the Scamnesty campaign is part of the OFT's ongoing work to build awareness of scams.

To support this year's campaign, Scamnesty's presence online will be increased. Since the middle of this month, there have been Scamnesty pages on the Consumer Direct website which will be fully Scamnesty branded and include an `e-bin' for email scams and a postal bin locator.

This will, says the OFT, allow people to search for their nearest Scamnesty bins by postcode.