One-fifth of adults risking internet fraud through social media use, study finds

There were around 1.4 million cases of online fraud crime during the first half of 2020

A fifth of adults have put themselves at “significant” risk of internet fraud by oversharing on social media, according to new research.

Birthday dates, names of pets, phone numbers and even home address are among the personal details commonly shared by the 2,000 adults polled.

Despite these costly admissions, 29 per cent of adults still think they’ll never be a victim of online fraud. 

The research, conducted by Lloyd’s bank, also found 30 per cent of those surveyed have no idea if the data they’ve uploaded to platforms such as Twitter and Facebook could leave them vulnerable to crime.

In fact, a quarter did not know who can see what they put on social media and 12 per cent are unaware of how to change their account privacy settings to prevent strangers from seeing what they post.

Worryingly, industry figures reveal there were around 1.4 million cases of online fraud crime during the first half of 2020 - totalling £582.1m of financial losses.

Fraudsters are able to use the details they have gleaned from social media to try to guess an individual's passwords, in order to hack their accounts.

To highlight just how easily fraudsters can access this personal data, the UK bank partnered with barbers, Johnny’s Chop Shop, to carry out an experiment.

An eye-opening video shows staff gradually revealing increasingly personal information about their baffled customers during a typical conversation between barber and client. Unbeknown to the customers, the data was taken directly from their own social media accounts.

Gary Whiting, one customer at Johnny’s Chop Shop, said: “I love to chat when I’m in the barber’s chair but when he started talking about my holiday and dropped in my mum’s name, I was really shocked.

“This made me think twice about what and how I was sharing information online.

“I went straight home to check my privacy settings as you never know who can see your profile.”

Paul Davis, retail fraud director at Lloyds Bank, said: “If you think you’ll never fall victim to fraud, then think again.

“Scammers are getting more and more sophisticated, but it seems many, in particular men, have a false confidence that this won’t happen to them.

“Social media profiles are a shop window to scammers on the lookout for their next target.

Despite these warnings, the study carried out through OnePoll found a third have accepted a friend or follow request from someone they’ve never met.

In fact, of the 300 or so friends those polled have on Facebook, just 28 per cent are people they know in “real-life.”

SWNS