Lancashire has been ranked as one of the UK areas most at risk of cybercrime.

New research has revealed the UK areas most at risk of cybercrime, with Bedfordshire coming out on top.

The study by Web3 platform Freename analysed the latest data from the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre to see which UK police forces reported the highest levels of cybercrime as a percentage of all cybercrime and fraud reporting in the past 12 months.

It found that the Bedfordshire area is most at risk of cybercrime.

Of the 6,901 fraud and cybercrime cases reported to Bedfordshire Police, 2,918, or 42.28 per cent, were cybercrimes.

In second place, Cleveland Police reported 2,527 fraud and cybercrimes in the past 12 months, with 456, or 18.05 per cent, being cybercrimes.

Coming in third place is Staffordshire.

Staffordshire Police data shows that of the 6,332 total fraud and cybercrimes reported in the past 12 months, 1,025, or 16.19 per cent, were cybercrimes.

Taking fourth place in the top ten is Greater Manchester.

The study found that 2,675, or 15.81 per cent, of the 16,916 total fraud and cybercrime cases reported by Greater Manchester Police in the past 12 months were exclusively from cybercrimes.

Rounding out the top five is Warwickshire.

Warwickshire Police reported 3,197 fraud and cybercrimes in the past 12 months, and of this total, 501, or 15.67 per cent, were just from cybercrimes.

Across England and Wales, Lancashire was the ninth area most at risk of cybercrime, with 15.27 per cent of fraud and cybercrimes reported by Lancashire Police being cyber crimes.

In total, there were 7,950 reports of fraud and cyber crimes in Lancashire in the last year, with 1,214 being cyber crimes.

Commenting on the findings, Davide Vicini, CEO at Freename, said: "Scams in general are getting a lot more sophisticated these days, with many attempting to manipulate victims by disguising themselves as platforms we use every day.

"This, alongside some scammers even beginning to use AI to trick people, is an important reason to stay vigilant online, and this can be done by doing things like double-checking links you click, keeping strong passwords, and always attempting to find as much information as possible about who is using your data."