Where you live can affect how many scammers are after your hard-earned cash, according to a new report.
Consumer watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has looked at how financial crooks operate and where they target their victims.
The comprehensive data revealed that investors and savers living in the East of England are most at risk from fraudsters and scams.
The Financial Lives survey looks at how providers deliver their services across the UK.
The FCA found that one in four people were contacted by scammers who were after their pension pots or offered risky investments during the past year.
Living dangerously
Those living in towns and cities were most at risk from criminals – with cold-calling scammers mostly operating in the East of England.
Other places where consumers were considered at high-risk from fraudsters were Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.
The least active areas for scammers were South Yorkshire and the East of Scotland.
Besides scams, the survey also looked at how the lack of banking services in rural areas was impacting customers, with more people suffering from ill-health struggling to reach their banks in the countryside than urban customers.
Fewer people in rural areas had access to online banking as well.
More people with high-interest loans lived in towns and cities – 2.4 million people compared to 600,000 in rural areas.
North-South savings divide
Meanwhile, 51% of retirees in rural areas relied on the state pension as their only source of income, compared with 37% in urban areas.
But those living in the country were more satisfied with their finances (27%) than those living in towns and cities (20%), while the level was even lower in London (16%).
The data also disclosed 13% of adults have no savings – but more living in the north are affected, with 17% in the North West and 16% in the North East than in the South East (9%) and South west (10%).
Andrew Bailey, the FCA chief executive, said: “This survey shows just how different the experience of financial services is for consumers across the country. That’s important for us, as we shape financial services policy. But it is also important for firms, as they decide how best to serve their customers.”
