Natwest has revealed the scams most likely to catch customers out in an effort to raise awareness of fraudsters' common tricks.

The bank said its records show nearly 7,000 customers have become the victims of scams since the start of 2016.

Among these, 'goods not received' cases – when someone pays for items or services that never turn up – were the most common, accounting for 2,073 cases, or around three in 10 scams carried out against Natwest customers.

Such scams can happen on online auctions and marketplaces, NatWest said. It said customers can protect themselves by reading the website's dispute resolution policy before buying, using recognised, official payment services and not paying via direct bank transfer off-site.

Business customers can also be victims of scams. NatWest said 'invoice fraud' – when a business receives an apparently genuine invoice from a trading partner which is actually fake – can cause particularly big losses. Each business targeted loses, on average, £30,000 to this type of fraud.

The company is supporting an initiative from National Trading Standard called Friends Against Scams to highlight fraud techniques.

Les Matheson, NatWest chief executive of personal and business banking, said: 'We know scammers can be convincing and they work round the clock to persuade their victims to part with money.

'We have hundreds of people working 24/7 to detect and stop fraud, but it's very important that, as individuals and businesses, we know how to protect ourselves.'

Here are the top five scams affecting NatWest customers and an explanation of them:

1. Goods not received – You pay for goods or services but do not receive them from the seller.

2. Advance fee fraud – Fraudsters ask you for an advance or up-front payments for goods, services and/or financial gains that do not materialise.

3. Spoof payment requests – You receive a fraudulent request, purporting to be from someone senior in a company or a client, for payment or draw down of funds.

4. Invoice fraud – You are tricked into believing an invoice is from a trusted trading partner when it is not. The fraudster will tell you their payment information has changed and you should pay the new account.

5. Holiday scam – You book a holiday, usually online, to find out later that the holiday is not real.