We submitted a Freedom of Information request to the police and action fraud to find out the true losses of how bad reported investing and financial scams have become on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and Youtube.
What is terrifying about this is, that it’s not just scammy and spammy posts by individuals, it’s adverts that have been approved by social media platforms, who are profiting from them. If you watch an advert out of curiosity, you’ll be served similar ads until you are so far down the rabbit hole it’s almost impossible to get out.
I spend a fair amount of time researching financial products online, so my social media feeds are flooded with what I would describe as fake, “get-rich-quick” scams. There are now more and more inventive posts and adverts for unregulated investment schemes that are designed to separate people from their money.
Financial scams on social media
- Consumers lost £75 million to financial scams on social media in a year, reveals official police data.
- Reports of financial scams on social media have trebled in the space of three years, with Instagram users reporting 1,857 scams to police in one year alone
- Facebook users reported losing £33 million in one year, while losses on TikTok rocketed 45-fold in the space of a year
- One investor told police that they lost £4 million to a single financial scam on social media
- 24 children aged under 10 were caught out by scams on social media, with 593 victims aged under 20
- Investors should be wary of social media adverts and advice about financial products, and to rely on trusted sources of information
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£75m lost in one year
UK consumers lost £75 million to financial scams on social media in a year, reveals official police data obtained by the Good Money Guide.
Consumers made 3,597 reports to police in a year about investment frauds on social media, with Instagram cited in more than half of cases, followed by Facebook with 1,193 reports. Total losses were greater on Facebook, however, with £33 million reported as being lost to frauds and scams originating on the platform.
Despite police only receiving 50 reports of financial scams on TikTok, the average loss per victim far outstripped those on all other social media channels. The average loss on TikTok of £138,472 was almost double the next highest amount – £77,428 on LinkedIn.
Table: Police reports and financial losses in 2022
| Platform | Losses | Reports | Average loss per claim |
| TikTok | £6,923,619 | 50 | £138,472 |
| £8,439,632 | 109 | £77,428 | |
| YouTube | £10,048,855 | 231 | £43,502 |
| £32,608,158 | 1,193 | £27,333 | |
| £3,647,635 | 157 | £23,233 | |
| £13,047,334 | 1,857 | £7,026 | |
| Total | £74,715,234 | 3,597 | £20,772 |
Source: Action Fraud / Good Money Guide
Scams skyrocketing as social media platforms profit
The problem of financial scams on social media has rocketed since the turn of the decade, with crime reports trebling in the space of three years.
Total reported losses by platform
| Platform | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| £7,741,799 | £6,971,835 | £15,810,093 | £32,608,158 | |
| £2,340,376 | £3,744,180 | £7,204,014 | £13,047,334 | |
| £1,334,354 | £2,086,490 | £1,912,657 | £8,439,632 | |
| TikTok | £151,848 | £6,923,619 | ||
| £448,422 | £646,291 | £2,432,865 | £3,647,635 | |
| YouTube | £784,561 | £1,047,156 | £3,999,840 | £10,048,855 |
| Total | £12,649,513 | £14,495,953 | £31,511,316 | £74,715,234 |
Source: Action Fraud / Good Money Guide
Total losses were six times higher than they had been three years previously, rising from £13 million in 2019 to £75 million in 2022.
One investor told police that in 2022 they lost £4 million to a single financial scam on social media, which was almost six times more than the biggest single loss recorded in 2021 of £700,000.
And the losses weren’t confined to adults either. Some 24 children aged under 10 were caught out by scams on social media, with 593 victims aged under 20.
It’s easy to stumble across social media posts offering an investment opportunity that seems too good to be true, and in 99% of cases, that’s exactly what it is.
It’s staggering to think that in just one year UK consumers have lost £75 million to financial scams and fraudsters on social media. It’s time that the platforms took a long hard look at the material they’re allowing online, as too often they are being used as a hunting ground by scammers preying on the unwary.
The criminals often go to great lengths to make their scams look credible – sometimes even ‘cloning’ legitimate investment platforms. These will typically look almost identical to the real thing, apart from a small difference in the URL. Needless to say when unsuspecting investors deposit funds into one of these fake websites, they never see them again.
Something is going seriously wrong if children under 10 can be conned by these despicable money-grabbing scammers.
Avoiding social media financial scams
If you’re looking to invest, make sure you’re dealing with a trustworthy, FCA-regulated company and do plenty of careful research before you take the plunge.
There is never an urgency to investing, and if you feel under any pressure or if something looks to good to be true, it probably is.
Richard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a career spanning two decades as a broker, he brings extensive expertise and knowledge to the financial landscape.
Having worked as a broker at Investors Intelligence and a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial), Richard has acquired substantial experience in the industry. His career began as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson), following internships on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 and 2000.
Richard’s contributions and expertise have been recognized by respected publications such as The Sunday Times, BusinessInsider, Yahoo Finance, BusinessNews.org.uk, Master Investor, Wealth Briefing, iNews, and The FT, among many others.
Under Richard’s leadership, the Good Money Guide has evolved into a valuable destination for comprehensive information and expert guidance, specialising in trading, investment, and currency exchange. His commitment to delivering high-quality insights has solidified the Good Money Guide’s standing as a well-respected resource for both customers and industry colleagues.
You can contact Richard at richard@goodmoneyguide.com
