The Christmas crime prevention calendar

The campaign is being run nationally

Police forces across the North East are backing a new campaign aimed at preventing shoppers being conned online over the festive season.

On 'Cyber Monday' shoppers are looking for the best deals online. A new awareness campaign involves thirty days of advice. It's made up of an 'Advent Calendar of Christmas Fraud' - each day gives tips on how to stay safe.

New national figures show that last year, victims reported losing over £10 million to fraudsters when shopping online for Christmas presents. The largest loss was one victim who lost £86,000 when he tried to purchase a boat from a fraudster on Ebay.

Figures for last Christmas show that last year 12,142 people said that they had been a victim of online shopping fraud during the Christmas period with 133 people saying that they had been defrauded on Black Friday and another 115 falling victim on Cyber Monday.