New research suggests that wealthier investors are the most likely to be victims of financial scams with 49% of those with assets of £250,000 or more saying they have been victims.

Those with assets of more than £2m are almost twice as likely to say they have been scammed than those with assets under £500,000.

Some 57% of people aged 35-44 have reported being a scam victim compared with 30% of those aged 55-64 but only 18% of those aged 65+.

Research by wealth manager Saltus found that half of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) admit to being victims of a financial scam, according to the Saltus Wealth Index. 

The Saltus Wealth Index surveyed more than 1,000 people in the UK with investable assets over £250,000. 

Among those with assets of between £250,000 and £500,000, just over a third (36%) said they had been a victim of financial crime. This rose steadily with wealth, up to 41% for those with assets of between £500,000 and £1m and to 53% of those with between £1m and £2m.

The level of reported crime is even higher among people with the greatest assets, said Saltus, standing at 66% of those with assets of between £2m and £3m and 65% - for those with £3m or more. 

The research also found that women were slightly more likely to say they have been victims of a financial scam than men - 52% said yes compared to 48% of men. In terms of age groups, those aged 35-44 were the most likely to report that they had been targeted - 57% said they had compared to 48% of millennials, 51% of 25-34s, 31% of 55-64s and just 18% of over 65s. 

Regionally, while 49% of respondents nationally said that they have been a victim of a financial scam or cybercrime, this figure rises to about 60% in Yorkshire and the Humber. Other regions where the number of HNWIs say they have been a victim of financial crime higher than the national average are the North East and West, the East Midlands, Northern Ireland and the South East. 

In comparison, just a quarter of HNWIs in the South West and less than a third in Wales say their wealth has been threatened by a scam. 

Mike Stimpson, partner at Saltus, said: “We can see that people aged between 35 and 44 are most likely to have reported being scammed. While this study focuses on reported crime and so we cannot definitively conclude that this age group is actively targeted by criminals, logic suggests that those starting to think about what they might do when they can access their pension (at age 55) could be more at risk as fraudsters see an opportunity to scam people out of their pension pot.” 

The survey was carried out in August by Saltus working with market research firm, Censuswide which surveyed 1,002 UK respondents who have £250k+ investable assets about how they felt about the UK economy, their own wealth and what matters most to them personally. The mean age was 44, the male/female split was 66:34. 57% live outside Greater London and the South East and median net worth stood at £1.5m.