Social media firms have been under increased pressure to improve fraud monitoring due to scams originating on the platforms.
This comes after
Authorised Push Payment (APP) victim reimbursement scheme came into effect on 7 October. Payment Service Providers are required to reimburse victims of APP fraud up to £85,000, but some are arguing social media sites have a bigger role to play in this.
Revolut
slammed Meta after the social media company announced a
data-sharing programme with UK banks. Revolut stated the scheme didn’t go far enough, with the bank’s head of financial crime, Woody Malouf saying, “These plans are baby steps, when what the industry really needs is giant leaps forward.”
Revolut also released a
report finding that over 60% of all APP victims originated on Meta platforms during the first half of 2024.
This all came before the
BBC found Revolut received more fraud complaints than competitors in 2023.
With this debate on going, we should take a look what some of the most prominent scams on social media are and what they look like.
1. Romance scams
Relationship and romance scams are some of the most pernicious and upsetting to experience. These work by the scammer building up a trusted relationship
with the victim over weeks, months, or even years. Eventually the scammer will ask for money to be transferred to them, often under the guise of an emergency situation.
For victims of this type of fraud it can be very embarrassing and distressing when they realise what has happened. Scammers may use fake or stolen images, and there are some reports of them using
deepfakes to convince victims of their legitimacy.
2. Job scams
Scammers will post a fake job posting online and even reach out to job seekers with the opportunity. They may pretend to be hiring for a large known company. During they application, the victim may be asked to send money upfront, or provide personal financial
information. Another form of this is after an application, the victim may be asked to pay for fees for training, recruitment, administration, setup, or be asked to pay for their “work” equipment.
Heimdal recently analysed 2,670 posts and comments on social media, from individuals’ experience with employment scams. They found that finance jobs were the most likely to be targeted,
at 35.45%.
3. Marketplace scams
Marketplace scams can take a number of different forms, from rental scams to ticket scams. In rental scams, criminals will post a rental property on Facebook marketplace, often at below market prices making them very appealing. They will then ask those who
enquire to send them a deposit before viewing the flat.
Ticket scams have made headlines throughout the year following big concerts. Scammers will claim to be selling tickets to sold out event, and victims will be tricked into sending a bank transfer or other form of payment due to scarcity. Police warned about
this with Oasis earlier this year, but the BBC reported that some scammer hacked Facebook profiles to sell fake
Taylor Swift tickets.
4. Phishing links
Scammers might send phishing links to unsuspecting victims to try and gather their personal information. Links could be found in messages or advertisements, but also may be included in other types of scams. For example, a ticket scammer may send a payment
link which is actually a phishing link.
Messages might tell the victim they need to update their information or that their profile has been compromised by a scammer, and they need to follow the link to solve the issue.
5. Cryptocurrency and investment scams
Investment scams involve convincing victims to invest some of their money into a scheme which promises strong returns. These can be cryptocurrency related, but they may be any kind of investment.
These can be promoted through posts, advertisements, direct messages, or by certain personalities.
X came under fire earlier this year, with users complaining of cryptocurrency related scam advertising on the platform.
6. Celebrity impersonation scams
Within many of these scams there is the possibility of criminals using the likeness of celebrities gain confidence. Adding to this, the
development of deepfake imaging has made it easier for scammers to impersonate widely photographed people, even in videos.
This could be used to lure a victim into a romance scam, but it seems to be most often used by for investment scams. According to
Money Saving Expert, impersonations of people like Martin Lewis, Elon Musk, King Charles and Mark Zuckerberg have led to millions being lost.