BLANDFORD is the third most exploited area by cold callers, a new study has revealed. 

Refurbished tech experts Back Market analysed the number of nuisance call reports coming from 752 area codes in the UK. 

It found Blandford had 508,653 reports since 2015. By comparison, Manchester had 611,150 and taking the top spot is London with 3,580,172 reports. 

 A spokesman for Back Market said: “Surprisingly, Blandford Forum was third on our list, with the number of reports for the 01258 area code more than 43 times greater than the Dorset town’s population. 

“We also analysed what people had to say in their reports to identify the most common type of scam nationally.  

“We found that scammers routinely impersonate trusted institutions like banks, Amazon, and internet providers such as BT.  

“Banks were the most frequent institution scammers impersonated, with 587 out of 1,168 reports we looked at mentioning matters relating to bank accounts.” 

He added: “Scammers are very unlikely to wait around while you complete your checks and will usually move on to their next target by the time you are ready to verify things with the institution in question. 

“This will also give you time to calm down, so if fraud has happened on your account, you can help the advisor identify fraud quickly and begin fraud protection procedures promptly.”