Major UK banks have issued warnings about a significant increase in online fraud during 2022, with the majority of scams originating on social media, online marketplaces, and dating apps. Barclays reported that 77% of scams now occur on these platforms, while TSB highlighted sharp rises in impersonation, investment, and purchase fraud.
TSB noted that impersonation scams on WhatsApp have tripled in a year, and fake listings on Facebook Marketplace have doubled. The bank described “huge fraud spikes” on Meta-owned platforms, including WhatsApp and Facebook. Meta responded by calling fraud an “industry-wide issue” and pointed to its systems for blocking scams and FCA-authorisation requirements for financial advertisers.
Lloyds Banking Group's fraud prevention director, Liz Ziegler, described the situation as an “epidemic of scams,” urging tech companies to take responsibility. NatWest chief executive Alison Rose told a Treasury Select Committee that three million people in the UK were victims of fraud in 2022, with an 87% increase in fraud cases, 60% of which originated on social media and tech platforms.
TSB reported that 60% of purchase fraud cases occur on Facebook Marketplace, and two-thirds of impersonation fraud cases happen on WhatsApp. The bank issued 2,650 refunds last year. Paul Davis, TSB's director of fraud prevention, called on social media and telephone companies to “urgently clean up their platforms” and take financial liability for fraud.
According to UK Finance, 56% of total losses to scams were reimbursed in the first half of 2022. Many banks, including NatWest, Lloyds, and Barclays, follow the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code for Authorised Push Payment scams. TSB claims to reimburse 97% of fraud cases and campaigns for others to do the same.
Consumer group Which? urged the government to pass the Online Safety Bill without further delays, stressing the need for strong consumer protections. Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy, said the statistics “expose the worrying scale” of fraud on social media.
