Instagram has become the UK’s new battleground for scams involving impersonation, with a 155 per cent increase in reports over the past year.
The statistics from Lloyds Bank come as pressure grows on social media companies to act on scams and frauds. A duty of care to protect their users from fraud is enshrined in the Online Safety bill introduced in parliament last month.
Users of Instagram aged under 25 were most likely to fall victim to impersonation scams, in which criminals pretend to be a trusted individual such as a family member or friend to ask for money. They typically claim that their phone has been lost or damaged to explain why they are using a new number.