862 victims have lost a combined total of more than £2 million to coronavirus-related scams.

A total of £2,120,870 has been reported to Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.

The centre has received 3,621 reports of coronavirus-related phishing emails.

A spokesman said: "Criminals continue to exploit the coronavirus pandemic to defraud innocent members of the public. Currently, coronavirus-related frauds make up 3-5% of all fraud reports we receive."

One of the recent scams were fake emails purporting to be from supermarket chain Tesco.

Action Fraud has received 30 reports about such fake emails.

The email states that the supermarket is offering free vouchers during the coronavirus outbreak. The link in the email leads to a genuine-looking phishing website that is designed to steal login credentials as well as personal and financial information.

Anyone receiving a suspicious email should not click on the links or attachments in suspicious emails and should never respond to messages that ask for personal or financial details.

Also, between April 11 and 14, Action Fraud received 23 reports of phishing emails that purported to be sent from HMRC. The emails stated that the recipient was eligible to receive a tax refund of up to £775.80. To complete the refund, recipients were asked to send proof of identity and proof of address. Documents that were suggested included a person’s passport and a utility bill.

Commander Karen Baxter, City of London Police, National Lead Force for Fraud, said: “Sadly, despicable criminals will look to take advantage of the financial benefits provided by the government to help us through this national crisis, and use these schemes as a way to commit fraud.

“It is not right that criminals are targeting those on lower incomes, who may be struggling financially at this time, and pretending to offer help and assistance.

“It is extremely important that if you receive an email or text out of the blue that you are not expecting, you don’t click on any links or attachments. Instead, visit the official GOV.UK website by typing it directly into your web browser so you can ensure the information you are seeing is genuine.”

If you think you have been a victim of fraud, please report it to Action Fraud at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.