CONNECT WITH US
Social Media

Social Media

Money stolen by scammers hijacking UK social media accounts rises 400%

The Guardian – Social Media logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
Money stolen by scammers hijacking UK social media accounts rises 400%

Many cases involve criminals using other people’s identities to sell fake event tickets to friends and family

The total amount stolen by criminals who hack into people’s emails and social media accounts and then pretend to be them has risen by more than 400% in a year, official UK data shows.

In many cases, the scammers are hijacking people’s accounts in order to use their identity to sell fake event tickets – such as to sold-out gigs – to unsuspecting friends and family.

The total reported amount stolen via email and social media account hacking reached £6.3m in the 2025-26 financial year, compared with £1.2m in 2024-25, according to the Report Fraud service run by the City of London police, which holds national responsibility for economic crime.

However, the true total may be much higher as many scam victims do not report the crime, often because they feel embarrassed, and sometimes because the individual amount of money involved was relatively small.

The Guardian previously featured the case of a music fan whose Instagram account was targeted by hackers, who used her identity to advertise tickets to an Oasis gig and stole £1,400 from her friends. She said the hackers impersonated her so well that her friends and family genuinely thought they were speaking to her.

Others have been scammed by fraudulent WhatsApp and text messages in which a criminal pretends to be their child or a relative who is in an emergency situation and urgently needs cash. This has been dubbed the “Hi mum” scam .


Source link
Related Topics:Social Media

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.